We have many adverbial phrases in Spanish. These are basically groups of words which act as adverbs, so they say how, when or where you do something. For instance:
I run quickly. How do you run? Quickly. This is an adverb.
I run tomorrow. When do you run? Tomorrow. This is an adverb.
I run here. Where do you run? Here. This is an adverb.
You can also think that “adverb” literally means “ad + verb” (from Latin, next or related to the verb). Adverbs modify verbs.
Now, I will teach you very frequent adverbial phrases that we use in normal conversation.
WITH “A”:
-a fondo: thoroughly. Lo investigaron a fondo. They investigated it thoroughly.
-a menudo: frequently, often. Hago esto a menudo. I do this often.
-a veces: sometimes. Mi hermana juega al tenis a veces. Sometimes, my sister plays tennis.
-al amanecer: at daybreak. Al amanecer, las montañas estaban nevadas. The mountains were covered with snow at daybreak.
-al anochecer: at nightfall. Hubo una tormenta al anochecer. There was a storm at nightfall.
-al fin: finally. Al fin pudimos terminar el trabajo. Finally, we could finish the job.
-al mismo tiempo: at the same time. Yo camino y leo al mismo tiempo. I walk and read at the same time.
This is not the same as “a la misma hora“, meaning “at the same hour”.
Tendremos la clase el próximo lunes a la misma hora. We will have the class next Monday at the same hour.
-al parecer: apparently. Aparentemente, ella no quiere ayudarnos. Apparently, she doesn’t want to help us.
WITH “DE”:
-de ahora en adelante: from now on. De ahora en adelante, usaremos este libro. From now on, we will use this book.
-de día: in the daytime. Llegaron de día. They arrived in the daytime.
-de noche: at night. De noche me gusta ver una buena película. At night, I like to watch a good film.
-de nuevo: again. Tengo que ir al dentista de nuevo. I have to go to the dentist again. You can also use “otra vez”.
-de repente/de pronto: suddenly. El auto salió de repente. The car left suddenly.
-desde entonces: since then. Me mudé a París hace un año. Desde entonces, solo hablo en francés. I moved to Paris one year ago. Since then, I only speak French.
-de veras: really, truly. Are you really interested in this boy? ¿De veras estás interesada en este chico?
-de vez en cuando: once in a while. Me gusta comer un helado de vez en cuando. I like eating an icecream once in a while.
WITH “POR”:
-por desgracia: unfortunately. Por desgracia, ella está muy enferma. Unfortunately, she is very ill.
-por fin: finally. Por fin terminé de preparar el examen. Finally, I finished preparing the exam.
-por lo visto: evidently. Por lo visto, no quieres venir. Evidently, you don’t want to come.
-por suerte: fortunately. Por suerte, mi madre cocinó para toda la semana. Fortunately, my mother cooked for the whole week.
-por supuesto: of course. Por supuesto, podemos hacer esto juntos. Of course, we can do this together.
-por último: finally. Por último, tenemos que corregir la traducción. Finally, we have to correct the translation.
