An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs in Italian answer questions such as how, how often, how long, when, where, etc.
A lot of adverbs in Italian have the ending “-mente,” e.g., “rapidamente” (quickly), “fortemente” (strongly), etc. This is, more or less, similar to the ending “-ly” in English. Nevertheless, there are many other adverbs and adverbial phrases that do not follow this simple rule. We will attempt to classify the most common adverbs into some categories for easier memorization.
Forming Adverbs in Italian
Many adverbs in Italian can be formed by simply adding “-mente” to the feminine singular adjective. If the adjective ends with “-le” or “-re” preceded by a vowel, we simply drop the final “-e.” Here are some examples:
| Adverb in English | Masculine singular adjective | Feminine singular adjective | Adverb in Italian |
| slowly | lento | lenta | lentamente |
| quickly | rapido | rapida | rapidamente |
| quietly | tranquillo | tranquilla | tranquillamente |
| exactly | esatto | esatta | esattamente |
| relatively | relativo | relativa | relativamente |
| recently | recente | recente | recentemente |
| strongly | forte | forte | fortemente |
| easily | facile | facile | facilmente |
| normally | normale | normale | normalmente |
| generally | generale | generale | generalmente |
| literally | letterale | letterale | letteralmente |
| popularly | popolare | popolare | popolarmente |
| regularly | regolare | regolare | regolarmente |
| particularly | particolare | particolare | particolarmente |
Some adverbs ending with “-mente” slightly deviate from the above rules. For example:
| benevolent | benevolo | benevolently | benevolmente |
| light | leggero | lightly | leggermente |
| original | originale | originally | originariamente |
| violent | violento | violently | violentemente |
Not all adverbs in Italian are formed by adding the “-mente” ending, similar to the fact that not all English adverbs are formed by adding “-ly” to the corresponding adjective. Some adverbs do not follow any particular rules. For example, the adverb of “buono” (good) is “bene” (well), and the adverb of “cattivo” (bad) is “male” (badly).
The Adverb “Così”
Another common adverb in Italian is “così,” which, depending on the context, can be translated as “such,” “so,” or “like this.” For example:
| È un gatto così carino! | He is such a pretty cat. |
| Questo gatto è così carino! | This cat is so pretty. |
| Non ho mai visto un gatto così. | I’ve never seen a cat like this. |
The Adverbs “Anche,” “Neanche,” and “Nemmeno”
The adverb “anche” is used to express agreement with an affirmative statement, whereas the adverb “neanche” or “nemmeno” is used to express agreement with a negative statement. For example:
| A: Io parlo italiano. B: Anche io. | A: I speak Italian. B: Me too. |
| A: Io non parlo italiano. B: Neanche io. | A: I don’t speak Italian. B: Me neither. |
To show disagreement with affirmative and negative statements, we simply use “no” (no) and “sì” (yes), respectively, for example:
| A: Io parlo italiano. B: Io no. | A: I speak Italian. B: I don’t. |
| A: Io non parlo italiano. B: Io sì. | A: I don’t speak Italian. B: I do. |
If a verb like “piacere” is used, the subject pronoun is replaced with a prepositional “a” followed by the prepositional object pronoun. For example:
| A: Mi piace il tè. B: Anche a me. | A: I like tea. B: Me too. |
| A: Non mi piace il tè. B: Nemmeno a me. | A: I don’t like tea. B: Me neither. |
We apply the same concept in the case of disagreement, for example:
| A: Mi piace il tè. B: A me no. | A: I like tea. B: I don’t. |
| A: Non mi piace il tè. B: A me sì. | A: I don’t like tea. B: I do. |
The Adverbs “Ancora” and “Già”
When followed by a verb in the present tense, “ancora” generally means “still” in affirmative and negative expressions. However, “ancora” can also mean “yet” in a negative expression when followed by a verb in the present perfect tense, for example:
| Vivo ancora in Italia. | I still live in Italy. |
| Non parlo ancora bene l’inglese. | I still don’t speak English well. |
| Non sono ancora tornato a casa. | I have not returned home yet. |
One can think of “già,” meaning “already,” as the opposite response to “non ancora.” Below are some examples in both the present tense and the present perfect tense:
a) Present Tense
| Non parlo ancora bene l’inglese. | I still don’t speak English well. |
| Parlo già bene l’inglese. | I already speak English well. |
b) Present Perfect Tense
| Non sono ancora tornato a casa. | I haven’t returned home yet. |
| Sono già tornato a casa. | I have already returned home. |
In the present tense, the opposite of “ancora” (still) is “non più” (no longer). For example:
| Vivo ancora in Italia. | I still live in Italy. |
| Non vivo più in Italia. | I no longer live in Italy. |
The Adverb “Fa”
The adverb of time “fa” means “ago” when describing something that happened and ended in the past. Here are some examples:
| Ho parlato con mia sorella tre mesi fa. | I spoke to my sister three months ago. |
| Mi sono svegliato 15 minuti fa. | I woke up 15 minutes ago. |
Adverbial Phrases with “Volta” and “Volte”
The feminine noun “volta” and its plural “volte” are used to describe the frequency of occurrence. The English equivalents are often “time,” and its plural “times,” e.g., “how many times did you win?” Here is a list of some adverbial phrases that use “volta”:
| questa volta | this time | ogni volta meno | less and less |
| la prossima volta | next time | l’ultima volta | last time |
| ogni volta | each time every time | una volta | one time once |
| per la prima volta | for the first time | per l’ultima volta | for the last time |
| qualche volta | at times some time | di volta in volta | from time to time |
Examples of adverbial verbs that use the plural noun “volte” include:
| a volte | sometimes | tre volte | three times |
| molte volte più volte | many times | parecchie volte | several times |
| tante volte | many times | Quante volte? | How many times? |
Next: Other Adverbs & Adverbial Phrases
Other lessons in Level III:
