Spanish 3.9.2. Other Adverbs

Given that an adverb can be created easily from a corresponding adjective, it is difficult to cover a vast number of adverbs in the limited space of this page.

Moreover, there are often multiple adverbs that convey a similar meaning. Here are some examples:

1. To say “certainly” or “surely,” you could use one of the following options: “ciertamente,” “seguramente,” “claro,” “por supuesto,” or even “sin duda” (undoubtedly).

2. To say “perhaps” or “maybe,” you could use: “tal vez,” “quizás,” “quizá,” or “a lo mejor.”

3. To say “really,” “truly,” or “actually,” you could use: “realmente,” “verdaderamente,” “de verdad,” or “en realidad.” Remember that “actualmente,” in Spanish, means “currently,” not “actually.”

4. To say “finally” you could use: “finalmente,” “al final,” “por fin,” “al fin,” or “por último.”^[1]

In this section, we list some of the most common adverbs and adverbial phrases. You will learn more adverbs as you practice Spanish by reading, listening, and understanding the general rules explained in this lesson.

Adverbs of Place

cerca	near	lejos	far
delante	in front	detrás atrás	behind
dentro adentro	inside	fuera afuera	outside
adelante	ahead	alrededor	around
en ninguna parte	nowhere	a bordo	on board
en todas partes	everywhere	en casa	at home

Adverbs of Time

pronto	soon	luego más tarde	later
temprano	early	tarde	late
antes	before	después	after
siempre	always	nunca jamás	never
a menudo muchas veces	often	de repente	suddenly
usualmente	usually	entonces	then
brevemente	briefly	frecuentemente con frecuencia	frequently
al principio	in the beginning	al final	in the end
todos los días cada día	every day	día por medio cada otro día	every other day
a corto plazo	in the short term	a largo plazo	in the long term
a tiempo	on time	mientras tanto entretanto	meanwhile
inmediatamente de inmediato	immediately	enseguida	right away immediately
anteanoche	the night before last	diariamente a diario	daily
semanalmente	weekly	mensualmente	monthly

Adverbs of Quantity

muy	very	mucho	a lot
demasiado	too much	poco	a little
más	more	menos	less
tanto	so much	bastante	enough
casi	almost	para nada	not at all

Adverbs of Manner

como	as like	así	like this
juntos	together	separadamente por separado	separately
poco a poco	little by little	paso a paso	step by step
deprisa	quickly in a hurry	apenas	barely hardly
seriamente en serio	seriously	alto en voz alta	loudly
además	moreover	cara a cara	face to face
afortunadamente	fortunately	desafortunadamente	unfortunately
por suerte	luckily	por desgracia desgraciadamente	unfortunately

Adverbial Expressions

de buena gana	willingly	de mala gana	unwillingly
a sabiendas	knowingly	a la moda	fashionably
de memoria	by heart	a pie	on foot
en camino	on the way	en el exterior[2]	overseas

---

[1] There are some differences between these expressions, all meaning “finally”:

• “por último” means “lastly” (in a list or order).
• “por fin” and “al fin” mean “at last” (often regarding something that is hoped for).
• “finalmente” and “al final” (the former is more formal) can mean “lastly” (in a list or order) or “in the end” (not necessarily regarding something that is hoped for).

[2] The expression “en el exterior” can also mean “outside” or “outdoors.”

Next: Directions

Back to: Spanish Lessons

Other lessons in Level III: