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Adverbs by Ronald Glenn Wrigley, M.A.

An adverb modifies a verb or an adjective. We have already seen a few adverbs (molto, tanto, troppo, poco) in Italian in Part 1:

Tu parli molto. You talk a lot.

Lui beve troppo. He drinks too much.

I ragazzi sono tanto intelligenti. The boys are so intelligent.

È poco furbo. He isn't so astute.

In English, adverbs often end in “-ly”: “quickly,” “easily,” “particularly.”

In Italian, the suffix -mente corresponds to the English “-ly” suffix. To form an adverb in Italian, the -mente suffix is added to the feminine singular form of the adjective.

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="36%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Adjective</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Feminine Singular Form</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Adverb</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>libero</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>libera</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>liberamente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>tranquillo</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>tranquilla</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>tranquillamente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>attento</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>attenta</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>attentamente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>rapido</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>rapida</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>rapidamente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Adjectives whose singular forms end in <emphasis>-e</emphasis> add the suffix <emphasis>-mente</emphasis> without changing the final vowel:</p> <table frame="all" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Adjective</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Adverb</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>intelligente</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>intelligentemente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>triste</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>tristemente</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Adjectives whose singular forms end in <emphasis>-le</emphasis> or <emphasis>-re</emphasis> drop the final <emphasis>-e</emphasis> before adding the suffix <emphasis>-mente</emphasis>:</p> <table frame="all" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Adjective</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Adverb</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>probabile</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>probabilmente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>particolare</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>particolarmente</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 12: From Adjective to Adverb</h2> <p>Rewrite the following adjectives as adverbs.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>facile</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>raro</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>disperato</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>recente</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>magnifico</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>difficile</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>diligente</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>doloroso</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>tranquillo</emphasis> </p></li> <li><p><emphasis>economico</emphasis> </p></li> </ul> <p>There are several commonly used adverbs that do not derive from adjectives:</p> <table frame="all" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>bene</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>well</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>male</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>badly</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>presto</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>early</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>sempre</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>always</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 13: More with Adverbs</h2> <p>Fill in the blank with the correct form of the adverb. The first sentence contains a clue as to which adverb you should use.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>Andrea Boccelli è un buon cantante. Lui canta</emphasis> .</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Sto attento quando lui parla. Io ascolto</emphasis> .</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>L'italiano per me è facile. Parlo italiano</emphasis> .</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Il signor Ferragamo ha molti vestiti eleganti. Lui si veste</emphasis> .</p></li> <li><p>5<emphasis>Giovanni è disperato perché non trova le chiavi della macchina. 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