Italian adverbs
Lesson Outline
Hide- 1.Italian adverbs list
- 1.1.Italian adverbs of Manner
- 1.2.Italian adverbs of Time and Frequency
- 1.3.Italian adverbs of Place
- 1.4.Italian adverbs of Quantity
- 1.5.Italian affirmation and negation adverbs
- 1.6.Italian adverbs of doubt, interrogative/exclamative
- 2.Italian adverbial phrases (expressions with adverbs)
- 3.Comparative and superlative adverbs
- 4.Position of adverbs in a sentence
- 5.Italian adverbs vs adjectives
Italian adverbs list
Adverbs (gli avverbi) generally add a piece of information about the main verb.
Adverbs are used to describe:
- how an action is done (adverbs of manner);
- when an action is done (adverbs of time);
- where an action happens (adverbs of place);
- a quantity (adverbs of quantity)
- other useful infomation (adverbs of confirmation, doubt, negation)
Italian adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner are used to express how an action is carried out.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Bene | Good/Well |
| Male | Bad |
| Davvero | Really/For real |
| Volentieri | With pleasure |
| Apposta | On purpose |
| Così | So |
Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding the suffix -mente to a qualifying adjective. -mente could roughly correspond to -ly.
Note that some spelling changes may occur and the final adverb form could vary.
| Adjective | Adverb | English |
|---|---|---|
| Veloce | Velocemente | Fast(ly) |
| Lento | Lentamente | Slow(ly) |
| Facile | Facilmente | Easy (Easily) |
Italian adverbs of Time and Frequency
These adverbs are invariable and add a temporal specification.
Time |
English |
|---|---|
Ieri |
Yesterday |
Dopo |
After/later/then |
Subito |
Right away/immediately |
Presto |
Early/Soon |
Oggi |
Today |
Domani |
Tomorrow |
| Dopodomani | The day after tomorrow |
L'altro ieri |
The day before yesterday |
|
Ogni giorno Ogni minuto |
Every (day/minute) |
|
Ora Adesso |
Now |
Finora |
So far |
Prima |
Before/First |
Tardi |
Late |
Spesso |
Often |
Sempre |
Always |
Mai |
Never |
Già |
Already/Yet |
Ancora |
Again/Still/Yet |
Allora |
Back then |
|
Di solito Solitamente |
Usually |
Raramente |
Rarely |
|
A volte Ogni tanto |
Sometimes |
| Stamattina | This morning |
| Stanotte | Tonight |
| Stasera | This evening |
| Talvolta (formal) | Sometimes |
Italian adverbs of Place
Adverbs of place pinpoint a location. They are all invariable.
| Place | English |
|---|---|
| Dentro | Inside |
Fuori |
Outside |
Sopra |
On/Above |
Sotto |
Under |
Dietro |
Behind |
Davanti |
In front of/Facing |
Vicino |
Near/Close |
Accanto |
Next to/Close to |
Lontano |
Far |
Intorno |
Around (position) |
| Intorno | Around (movement) |
Su |
Up/On |
Giù |
Down/Under |
Via |
Away |
|
Qui Qua |
Here |
|
Lì Là |
There |
Altrove |
Elsewhere |
| A sinistra | On the left |
| A destra | On the right |
|
Dappertutto Dovunque Ovunque |
Everywhere/Anywhere |
| Da qualche parte | Somewhere |
| Da nessuna parte | Nowhere |
| Altrove | Elsewhere |
Italian adverbs of Quantity
Adverbs of quantity add information about an amount, a scale. They are invariable.
| Quantity | English |
|---|---|
| Abbastanza | Enough |
Molto |
A lot/much |
Piuttosto |
Rather/Quite |
Meno |
Less |
Poco |
A little |
Più |
More |
Quasi |
Almost |
Solo |
Only/Just |
Tanto |
A lot |
Troppo |
Too much |
Un po' |
A little bit |
| Altrettanto | As much as |
| Parecchio | A lot/Quite |
| Appena | Just enough |
|
Niente Nulla |
Nothing |
| Circa | About |
Italian affirmation and negation adverbs
This category of adverbs is particularly useful to express an opinion.
|
Adverb |
English |
|---|---|---|
Affirmation |
Sì | Yes |
|
Sicuramente Di sicuro |
Surely/For sure |
|
Certamente Di certo |
Certainly/Certain |
|
Ovviamente |
Obviously |
|
Davvero Per davvero |
Really/For real |
|
Esattamente |
Exactly |
| Proprio | Right (that thing) | |
|
Senza dubbio Indubbiamente |
Without a doubt/Undoubtedly | |
Negation |
No |
No |
|
Non |
Not |
|
Né... né |
Neither... nor |
|
Neanche Nemmeno Neppure |
Not even |
Italian adverbs of doubt, interrogative/exclamative
With the following adverbs it's possible to express an uncertainty and ask questions.
| Adverb | English | |
|---|---|---|
Doubt |
Probabilmente |
Probably |
|
Forse Magari |
Maybe |
|
Quasi |
Almost |
|
Eventualmente Possibilmente |
Possibly |
| Se | If | |
Interrogative |
Dove |
Where |
|
Quando |
When |
|
Come |
How |
|
Perché Come mai |
Why/For what reason |
|
Quanto |
How much |
Italian adverbial phrases (expressions with adverbs)
An adverbial phrase is a construction of two or more words that act as an adverb.
These expressions are very common in everyday language.
Examples include: A piedi (on foot), A sinistra (on the left), Così e così (So and so)
Comparative and superlative adverbs
Comparative and superlative constructions are used to make comparisons between two or more terms.
There are three kinds of comparatives.
| Comparative | Construction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative of minority | Più (More) + Adverb + di | Più velocemente (Faster) |
| Comparative of minority | Meno + Adverb +di | Meno velocemente (Slower) |
| Comparative of equality | Tanto + Adverb + quanto | Tanto velocemente quanto (As fast as) |
There are also two kinds of superlatives.
| Superlative | Construction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Relative | Determinative article + più/meno + Adverb | Il più velocemente (The fastest way) |
| Absolute | Adjective + superlative suffixes + mente | Velocissimamente (Superfast) |
Position of adverbs in a sentence
There are no fixed rules to define the position of adverbs.
Their spot in a sentence can change; an adverb can emphasise a specific part of the sentence according to the speaker's communicative intentions.
We could say that if an adverb directly modifies the verb, it's located closer to it.
If an adverb modifies the whole sentence, it's generally further from the verb.
Check out the following examples.
Ieri siamo andati al cinema. (We went to the cinema yesterday.)
Siamo andati al cinema ieri. (We [already] went to the cinema yesterday.)
Italian adverbs vs adjectives
There is one substantial difference between adverbs and adjectives.
Adverbs add information to the verb and are unvariable, while adjectives add information to the
noun and agree in gender and number with it.
Take a look at the following examples:
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
|
Claudia ha mangiato troppa pasta. (Claudia ate too much pasta.) |
Claudia è molto sazia. (Claudia is very full.) |
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