Italian Adverbs

An adverb (avverbio) is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb can be compared to an adjective but instead it says something about a verb or an adjective instead of a noun.

  • Luciano agisce lentamentes  »  Luciano acts slowly.
  • Leonardo viene tardi  »  Leonardo comes late.
  • Usciamo adesso  »  We're leaving now.
  • Ci andiamo a giugno   »  We are going there in June.

In English, adverbs are often formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives: slowly, softly, surely. Adverbs often answer the question: come? (how?), quando? (when?), or dove? (where?)

In Italian, many adverbs are formed by adding the ending -mente (which corresponds to the suffix -ly) to the feminine form of the adjective:

Adjective (masc.) Adjective (fem.) Adverb
felice (happy) felice (happy) felicemente (happily)
vero (true) vero (true) veramente (truly)
lento (slow) lenta (slow) stancamente (tiredly)
stanco (tired) stanca (tired) stancamente (tiredly)

Examples:

  • Lui corre rapidamente  »  He runs fast
  • Parlo lentamente  »  I speak slowly
  • Parla Italiano fluentemente  »  He/She/It speaks Italian fluently

If the adjective ends in -le or -re, the final vowel e is dropped before adding the suffix -mente:

Adjective (m. or f.) Adjectival root Adverb
esemplare (exemplary) esemplari- esemplarmente(exemplarily)
gentile (kind) gentil- gentilmente(kindly)
speciale (special) special- specialmente(especially)
generale (general) general- generalmente(generally)
regolare (regular) regolar- regolarmente(regularly)

Not all Italian adverbs are formed from adjectives. Below we have a list of those adverbs.

ITALIANENGLISH
AncoraStill
Attornoaround, about
BeneWell
Controagainst
Dentroin, inside
Dietrobehind of
Dopothen, afterwards
Fuorioutside
ITALIANENGLISH
Giàalready
Inoltremoreover
Insiemetogether
Malebadly
(non)...mainever
(non)...piùnot anymore
Oltrebeyond
Semprealways

Examples:

  • Beve sempre la birra  »  He always drinks beer.
  • Sono arrivato tardi al museo  »  I arrived late at the museum.
  • Non ci sei più andata  »  You don't go there anymore.
  • Enzo è sempre venuto in orario  »  Enzo always came on time.
  • Non ho ancora finito i miei compiti  »  I still hadn't finished my homework.