Advanced Spanish Adverbs: muy vs mucho, aún, Word Order

The commonest Spanish adverbs never take -mente. They are short, they top the frequency list, and they sort into families:

• Ya he comido. - I've already eaten.
• Es muy caro. - It's very expensive.

Spanish adverbs at a glance

The whole page on one screen:

For adverbs built with -mente (rápidamente, claramente), see Spanish adverbs in -mente.

Place: aquí, ahí, allí

Spanish has three distances where English has two:

123

1. 1aquí
2. 2ahí
3. 3allí

Aquí (here): the café right by the speaker. Ahí (there): the shop across the road. Allí (over there): the church far away on the hill.

They match the demonstratives: este libro de aquí, aquel libro de allí (demonstratives). Acá and allá are their cousins: everyday for here and there in Latin America, and used in Spain mostly after verbs of motion:

• Ven acá. - Come here.

Time: ya, todavía, aún

The pair that trips learners is ya no against todavía no. Ya no is something that has stopped; todavía no is something that has not started:

• Ya no trabajo. - I'm not working any more.
• Todavía no trabajo. - I'm not working yet.

Aún or aun

Aún means the same as todavía, and aún no the same as todavía no. Without its accent, aun is a different word, even:

The test: if todavía fits, write aún; if incluso fits, write aun.

Muy or mucho

Muy goes in front of a describing word, an adjective or an adverb. Mucho goes with a verb or a noun, and before a noun it agrees:

Three things the table cannot show:

• Before mejor, peor, más and menos it is always mucho: mucho más caro - much dearer.
• The two never stack. Very much is muchísimo: Te quiero muchísimo. - I love you very much.
• Muy cannot stand alone. Answering a question, use mucho: ¿Estás cansado? Sí, mucho. - Are you tired? Yes, very.

For the rest of the degree ladder (bastante, demasiado, apenas, tan), see Spanish intensifiers.

Adjectives that work as adverbs

A handful of adjectives double as adverbs after certain verbs, with no -mente. In this use they never change, whoever does the verb:

The -mente form often exists too, and is more formal: trabajar duro (to work hard) is everyday speech, trabajar duramente is written style. Sometimes the meaning parts company: hablar alto is to talk loudly, while altamente means highly.

Phrases that do an adverb's job

Spanish often uses a fixed phrase where English uses one adverb. Learn them whole:

More of these, sorted by how often and how fast, are on Spanish idioms of time and frequency.

Where the adverb goes

Adverbs of manner and degree follow the verb; muy sits right before its adjective:

• Habla bien. - He/She speaks well.
• Come mucho. - He/She eats a lot.

The rule English speakers break: nothing goes between haber and the participle. English says "I have always lived here"; Spanish keeps he vivido together and puts the adverb before or after the pair:

• Siempre he vivido aquí. - I have always lived here.
• Ya he terminado. - I've already finished.

You may meet the split in literary prose; do not copy it. Adverbs of time and place are mobile, and often open the sentence:

• Ayer llegó tarde. - Yesterday he/she arrived late.
• Aquí no se puede fumar. - You can't smoke here.

To say as fast as possible or as well as possible, see lo antes posible and lo mejor posible.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Before every "very", ask: is the next word a describing word (muy) or not (mucho)?
2. Do the story and the sort below.
3. Then lo antes posible and lo mejor posible.