Reference · module 17
How, how much, how long
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Rápidamente
Turn an adjective into an adverb.
- -mente attaches to the feminine form: rápida gives rápidamente, lenta gives lentamente. An adjective ending in -e or a consonant just takes it: fácilmente.
- The original accent stays where it was: rápidamente, fácilmente. The word then has two stresses, which is unusual in Spanish.
- In a list only the last one takes -mente: Habla lenta y claramente. The first stays a bare feminine adjective.
The mistake you are about to make
rápidomente
rápidamente
The adjective was learned in its -o form, so -mente goes on that. It attaches to the feminine: rápidamente.
Bien and bueno
Keep the adverb and the adjective apart.
- bien describes an action: Canta bien. bueno describes a thing: Es un buen cantante. Swapping them is the commonest mistake at this level.
- bueno drops its o before a masculine noun: un buen día, un buen hombre. After the noun it stays whole.
- muy goes before an adjective or adverb, mucho after a verb or before a noun: muy bien, trabaja mucho, mucho tiempo.
The mistake you are about to make
Canta bueno.
Canta bien.
English "good" is used after verbs in speech, so bueno comes out. With a verb Spanish needs bien.
Desde and hace
Say how long something has been going on.
- desde names when it started: Vivo aquí desde 2020. The verb stays in the present, because it is still true.
- desde hace names the length instead: Vivo aquí desde hace tres años. Both sentences describe the same situation.
- The other order is Hace tres años que vivo aquí. And hace alone, with a past verb, means ago: Llegué hace tres años.
The mistake you are about to make
He vivido aquí por tres años.
Vivo aquí desde hace tres años.
English needs a perfect for this. Spanish keeps the present, because you still live there, and marks the stretch with desde hace.
Joining two thoughts
Link sentences without starting a new one.
- pero is but. sino is the other but, the one that corrects a negative: No es rojo, sino azul.
- también agrees with a positive, tampoco with a negative: Yo también. Yo tampoco. Using también after a no is the usual slip.
- además adds a reason on the same side; sin embargo turns against what came before. Both open a sentence and take a comma.
The mistake you are about to make
Yo también no.
Yo tampoco.
"Me neither" gets built from también plus no. Agreeing with a negative is one word: tampoco.