Lenta y claramente, con cuidado: using -mente

How often: a scale

Several of the commonest -mente adverbs say how often, and they often open the sentence:

• Normalmente como en casa. - I usually eat at home.
• Realmente no lo sé. - I really don't know.

Two in a row: lenta y claramente

When two -mente adverbs are joined by y, o or pero, only the last keeps the suffix. The first stays as the feminine adjective:

• Habló lenta y claramente. - He/she spoke slowly and clearly.
• Lo explicó clara y tranquilamente. - He/she explained it clearly and calmly.

Repeating -mente on both (lentamente y claramente) is not wrong, and writers sometimes do it for emphasis, but in ordinary prose it sounds heavy.

When Spanish skips -mente

-mente adverbs are long, and speakers thin them out. Three everyday ways round them:

Con plus a noun. Often more natural than the -mente form:

• Conduce con cuidado. - Drive carefully.

A one-word adverb of its own. Well and badly are always bien and mal, never bueno and malo:

• Hablas muy bien. - You speak very well.

The adjective as it is. In speech, a few adjectives work as adverbs in their masculine form, straight after the verb:

• Habla muy rápido. - He/she talks very fast.
• Habla claro. - He/she speaks plainly.

Mistakes English speakers make