Adverb Placement

Adverbs in Spanish (adverbios) modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and their placement can subtly change the emphasis or meaning. This guide goes over the common types of adverbs and where they typically go in a sentence.

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs can express manner, time, place, frequency, or intensity, and each type tends to have preferred positions relative to the verb or sentence. Understanding the categories helps you predict where an adverb will sound natural.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🌞 Ella canta alegremente por la mañana en el parque.	She sings happily in the morning in the park.
🎶 Siempre practico piano allí para mejorar.	I always practice piano there to improve.
⏳ Hoy estudio mucho antes de la clase.	Today I study a lot before class.
📍 Vimos la obra cerca del río.	We saw the play near the river.
🔄 A menudo caminamos por el puente al atardecer.	We often walk across the bridge at sunset.
💬 Ella habla muy claramente en la plaza.	She speaks very clearly in the square.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe how an action is performed and often appear immediately after the verb or at the end of the sentence for added emphasis. Common adverbs of manner end in -mente when formed from adjectives.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🗣️ El cantante proyecta la voz claramente desde el escenario.	The singer projects the voice clearly from the stage.
🎨 Ella pinta rápidamente para captar la luz del momento.	She paints quickly to capture the light of the moment.
📸 El fotógrafo ajustó la cámara cuidadosamente antes de disparar.	The photographer adjusted the camera carefully before shooting.
🎬 Los actores ensayaron largamente en la calle cerrada.	The actors rehearsed at length on the closed street.
🎼 La orquesta tocó brillantemente frente al público.	The orchestra played brilliantly in front of the audience.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time tell when an action occurs and typically go at the beginning or end of a sentence; placing them first can set the scene while placing them last can serve as a natural tag. Examples include adverbs for specific moments, durations, and frequencies.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🌅 Esta mañana hubo un concierto en la plaza central.	This morning there was a concert in the main square.
🕰️ Al mediodía comimos mientras escuchábamos músicos callejeros.	At noon we ate while listening to street musicians.
🌇 Esta tarde pintaron murales en el parque.	This afternoon they painted murals in the park.
🌙 Anoche hubo una serenata bajo las luces del farol.	Last night there was a serenade under the lamppost lights.
📅 Mañana organizarán una feria de arte en las calles.	Tomorrow they will organize an art fair in the streets.

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place indicate where an action happens and usually follow the verb or appear at the sentence end; they can also start the sentence to highlight location. Common adverbs of place are short words like aquí, allí, and arriba.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🏞️ Colocaron puestos de comida alrededor de la fuente.	They set up food stalls around the fountain.
🎪 El circo instaló la carpa frente al ayuntamiento.	The circus pitched the tent in front of the town hall.
🚶 Caminamos hacia el callejón donde tocaba la banda.	We walked toward the alley where the band was playing.
🪧 Pusieron carteles coloridos encima de las farolas.	They put colorful posters on top of the lampposts.
🧺 Sentamos la manta aquí para ver los fuegos artificiales.	We laid the blanket here to watch the fireworks.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency describe how often something occurs and typically precede the main verb or follow ser; they can also appear at the sentence start for emphasis. Examples range from habitual adverbs to occasional and rare ones.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🎷 La banda callejera toca siempre los viernes por la tarde.	The street band always plays Friday afternoons.
🧑‍🎨 Ella pinta muraleses a menudo durante los fines de semana.	She often paints murals on weekends.
🗓️ A veces hay mercados nocturnos en la plaza.	Sometimes there are night markets in the square.
🎭 Casi nunca llueve en los días de festival callejero.	It almost never rains on street festival days.
🔔 De vez en cuando suena música desde las terrazas.	From time to time music plays from the terraces.

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree modify the intensity of an adjective, adverb, or verb and normally precede the word they modify; some adverbs of degree can be reinforced with expressions like más or muy. They help fine-tune meaning by adding subtle scaling.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🥳 Estoy muy emocionado por el desfile de luces.	I am very excited for the light parade.
🍰 El pastel de la feria estaba bastante dulce y colorido.	The fair’s cake was quite sweet and colorful.
🔥 La fogata crepitaba demasiado fuerte para oír al cantante.	The bonfire crackled too loudly to hear the singer.
🎉 Había mucho más espectáculo del que esperaba.	There was much more show than I expected.
👍 El ambiente estuvo sumamente alegre toda la noche.	The atmosphere was extremely joyful all night.

Placement with Object Pronouns

When object pronouns attach to infinitives, gerunds, or imperatives, adverbs usually cannot come between the pronoun and verb; adverbs instead appear before the construction or after the entire word. This maintains the pronoun-verb unit and keeps the sentence natural.

Spanish Example	English Translation
🎟️ Me lo mostraron antes de empezar el concierto.	They showed it to me before the concert started.
📣 Se la anunciaron desde el escenario iluminado.	They announced it to them from the lit stage.
🎫 Te lo guardé en la fila de entrada.	I saved it for you in the entrance line.
🎤 Dámelo cuando termines de hablar.	Give it to me when you finish speaking.
🧴 No se los des a los asistentes sin entradas.	Don’t give them to the attendees without tickets.

Summary

Adverb placement in Spanish follows logical patterns based on the adverb type: manner adverbs go after the verb, time and place adverbs go at the sentence edges, frequency adverbs precede the verb, and degree adverbs modify nearby words. Practicing with different adverbs will make their placement feel intuitive.

Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025