Definition: The part of speech that is used for describing or limiting an adjective, a verb, another adverb or an entire sentence.

In English, adverbs are frequently formed by adding "-ly" to the end of an adjective; in Spanish, they are frequently formed by adding -mente to the feminine form of adjectives. However, there are many adverbs in both languages that do not fit this pattern. In Spanish it is more common than in English for adjectives to function as adverbs.

In both languages, it is common for phrases to function as adverbs. For example, in the sentence "he fought with courage" (luchó con coraje), "with courage" (con coraje) is an adverbial phrase.

A sentence that modifies an entire sentence is known as a sentence adverb and usually indicates the speaker's attitude toward what the sentence says. For example, in the sentence "thankfully, it was nothing serious" (afortunadamente no fue nada serio), "thankfully" (afortunadamente) is a sentence adverb.

Also Known As: adverbio in Spanish

Examples: In the sentence "Obviously, we are very happily eating this extremely hot sauce" (claro, comemos muy felizmente esta salsa sumamente picante), the adverbs are "obviously," "very," "happily" and "extremely" (claro, felizmente, muy and sumamente).




Introduction to Adverbs
Most, Not All, Adverbs Are Derived from Adjectives


Like adjectives, adverbs are words that often are used to provide needed details in speech and writing. Although we could make grammatically complete sentences without them, we would be severely limited in what we could convey.
Spanish adverbs are much like their English counterparts. There are at least two ways in which you can define what adverbs are:

Words that tell us when, how or where the action or process in a sentence takes place.
Words that modify or limit the meaning of a verb, adjective, adverb or entire sentence.