Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

UNIT SIX

Adverbs

1 English adverbs are usually formed by adding ‘-ly’ to an adjective (e.g.
‘thinly’, ‘cleverly’). Italian adverbs are usually just as easy to form: -mente is
added to the feminine singular form of the adjective:

When the adjective ends in -le or -re preceded by a vowel, the final e is
dropped before adding -mente:

2 In Italian there are also many adverbs which do not end in -mente. Here are
some:

lenta + -mente

rapida + -mente

semplice + -mente

frequente + -mente

lentamente

rapidamente

semplicemente

frequentemente

slowly

quickly

simply

frequently

gentile + -mente

utile + -mente

maggiore + -mente

regolare + -mente

gentilmente

utilmente

maggiormente

regolarmente

kindly, politely

usefully

mainly

regularly

Il tempo cambia rapidamente.

La nonna cammina lentamente.

Enrico risponde sempre gentilmente.

Faccio i compiti regolarmente.

The weather changes quickly.

Granny walks slowly.

Enrico always answers politely.

I do my homework regularly.

abbastanza

ancora

bene

davanti

dentro

dietro

dopo

enough/fairly/rather/

quite

still

well

at the front/in front

in(side)

at the back/behind

later/afterwards

forte

fuori

già

lontano

male

non... ancora

non... mai

piano

loudly/hard

out/outside

already

far (away)

badly

not yet

never

slowly/quietly