A Concise Overview of Italian Adverbs

An adverb is a word that provides additional information about a verb, adjective, clause, or another adverb. In contrast to adjectives which change to agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, Italian adverbs remain invariable.

To illustrate how adverbs work, I will provide some examples. Consider the following Italian phrase where an adverb modifies a verb:

(Translation: “Francesco sings well”)

(Note that the arrows point from the head word towards its dependent word)

Let's now look at an example phrase in which the adverb modifies the adjective:

(Translation: “Very clear pronunciation”)

Now have a look at an Italian phrase where the adverb modifies another adverb:

(Translation: “Giulio talks too fast”)

The Italian language has several different types of adverbs. We will now look at the most frequently-used adverbs in each category.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency (or “Avverbi di frequenza” as they are called in Italian) provide information about how often something occurs.

Some common examples of Italian adverbs of frequency include “sempre” (always), “spesso” (often), “di solito” (usually), “a volte” (sometimes), “raramente” (rarely), and “mai” (never).

Table: Some of the most common Italian adverbs of frequency

Adverb	translation
spesso	often
sempre	always
mai	never
solitamente, di solito	usually, habitually
raramente	rarely, seldom
a volte	at times
ogni tanto	sometimes, every now and then
talvolta	sometimes

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree (or “Avverbi di grado” as they are known in Italian) indicate the degree, level of intensity or quantity of something else.

Some common examples of Italian adverbs of degree include “molto” (very), “poco” (little), “abbastanza” (enough), “tanto” (so much), and “troppo” (too much).

Table: Some examples of Italian adverbs of degree

Adverb	translation
molto	a lot, much, very much
moltissimo	very very much
poco	a little, little, not much
abbastanza	enough, sufficiently
piuttosto	rather, quite
meno	less
più	more, most
soprattutto	mostly, above all
quasi	almost
tanto	a lot, so much
troppo	too much
un po’	a little bit
parecchio	quite a lot
appena	barely, hardly
leggermente	slightly, mildly, lightly
per niente, per nulla	at all
affatto	at all
circa	approximately, about
assai	very, very much
totalmente	totally
completamente	completely
particolarmente	particularly
interamente	entirely, wholly
estremamente	extremely
incredibilmente	incredibly
notevolmente	remarkably
straordinariamente	extraordinarily
veramente	truly
eccezionalmente	exceptionally

The adverbs Molto, poco, troppo, and tanto can also be used as adjectives in Italian. When you use them as adverbs, though, remember that they are invariable, and never change their form.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place (or “Avverbi di luogo” as they are called in Italian) provide information about where something is, or where an action is performed.

Some common examples of Italian adverbs of place include “qui” (here), “lì” (there), “davanti” (in front), “dietro” (behind), “sopra” (on top), and “sotto” (under).

Table: Some examples of Italian adverbs of place

Adverb	translation
qui, qua	here
lì, là	there, in that place
intorno, attorno	around
vicino	near, close
lontano	far away, distant
di fronte	in front of
sopra	on, above
su	up, on
sotto	under
giù	below
davanti	in front
avanti	forward, onward
dietro	behind
indietro	backwards
dentro	inside
fuori	out, outside
a sinistra	on the left
a destra	on the right
oltre	further, beyond
via	away
dappertutto, ovunque	everywhere
da qualche parte	somewhere
da nessuna parte	nowhere
altrove	somewhere else, elsewhere
accanto	nearby, next to

The adverbs “qui” and “qua” can be used interchangeably. The same goes with “lì” and “là.”

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time (or “Avverbi di tempo” as they are called in Italian) provide information about when an action takes place.

Some common examples of Italian adverbs of time are: “ora” (now), “oggi” (today), “ieri” (yesterday), “domani” (tomorrow), “presto” (soon), and “tardi” (late). More examples are given in the table below:

Table: Some of the most frequently used Italian adverbs of time

Adverb	translation
ora	now
adesso	now, right now, in this instant
attualmente	currently, at the moment
intanto	in the meantime, meanwhile
infine	in the end, ultimately
finora	so far, till now
prima	earlier, previously, before
tardi	late
già	already, yet
ancora	still
nuovamente	again
tuttora	still
dopo	after, afterwards, later
poi	then, after that
subito	immediately, as soon as possible
immediatamente	immediately, right away
successivamente	subsequently
presto	soon, early
stavolta	this time
ormai	by this time
allora	at that time, back then
ieri	yesterday
oggi	today
domani	tomorrow
dopodomani	the day after tomorrow
l’altro ieri	the day before yesterday
ogni giorno	every day
stamattina	this morning
stanotte	tonight
stasera	this evening

Italian, the adverb presto is spelled the same as Spanish adverb presto, but they have completely different meanings. As mentioned previously, presto means “soon” in Italian, while the same word in Spanish means “quickly.”

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner (or “Avverbi di modo” as they are known in Italian) provide information about how something happens.

Some common examples of Italian adverbs of manner include “bene” (well), “male” (badly), “velocemente” (quickly), “ lentamente” (slowly), “facilmente” (easily), and “difficilmente” (with difficulty).

Table: Some examples of Italian adverbs of manner

Adverb	translation
bene	well, good
male	badly, wrongly
meglio	better
peggio	worse
volentieri	with pleasure
apposta	on purpose
meno	less, fewer
così	like this
praticamente	practically
perfettamente	perfectly
personalmente	personally, in person
ufficialmente	officially
esattamente	exactly, precisely
diversamente	differently, otherwise
direttamente	directly
decisamente	decidedly
esclusivamente	exclusively
chiaramente	clearly
principalmente	primarily, mainly
fortunatamente	luckily, fortunately
profondamente	deeply
semplicemente	simply
effettivamente	actually
facilmente	easily

As can be seen in the examples given above, Italian adverbs of manner are often formed by adding the suffix “-mente” to the feminine singular form of the corresponding adjective.

Adverbs of probability

Adverbs of probability are used to indicate how likely something is to happen. The table below shows some of the main adverbs of probability which are used in Italian:

Table: Some of the most frequently used Italian adverbs of probability

Adverb	translation
probabilmente	probably
forse	perhaps, maybe, possibly
magari	maybe
eventualmente	possibly, potentially
possibilmente	if possible, possibly
presumibilmente	presumably
certamente	certainly
sicuramente	surely
ovviamente	obviously
evidentemente	evidently

Affirmation and negation adverbs

Affirmation and negation adverbs are used to accept or refuse something, and show your approval or disapproval. Here are some of the most common Italian affirmation adverbs:

Table: Some examples of Italian affirmation adverbs

Adverb	translation
sì	yes
sicuramente	surely
di sicuro	for sure
certamente, di certo	certainly
ovviamente	obviously
davvero	really, in fact
esattamente	exactly
proprio	exactly, precisely
indubbiamente	undoubtedly
senza dubbio	without a doubt, no doubt

Let’s now move on to negation adverbs. See some examples below:

Table: Some examples of Italian negation adverbs

Adverb	translation
No	no, no way
Non	not, neither
Né... né	neither... nor
Neanche, nemmeno, neppure	not even

Interrogative adverbs

Interrogative adverbs introduce a question. Here they are:

Table: Some of the most frequently used Italian interrogative adverbs

Adverb	translation
dove	where
quando	when
come	how
perché	why
come mai	how come
quanto	how much

Conjunctive adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs connect two clauses. The most frequently used Italian conjunctive adverbs are provided the table below:

Table: Some examples of Italian conjunctive adverbs

Adverb	translation
invece	instead
inoltre	moreover, furthermore
purtroppo	unfortunately, regretfully
altrimenti	otherwise
cioè	that is, that is to say
perché	because
pure	also, as well
anche	also, as well, besides
comunque	anyway, either way, in any case
piuttosto	rather than, instead of, more likely
appunto	precisely
innanzitutto	first of all
dopodiché	thereafter
insomma	in short, in conclusion
finalmente	at last
infine	finally, eventually