OS ADVÉRBIOS (ADVERBS)

1. Uses and nature of the adverb

Adverbs can act as modifiers of a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole
sentence:

Ontem fui a Lisboa.

I went to Lisbon yesterday.

Ele é bem simpático.

He is quite/really nice.

Elas foram muito depressa.

They went very quickly.

Infelizmente choveu o dia todo.

Unfortunately it rained all day long.

Adverbs are invariable: that is, they do not vary according to the gender, number or
person of the word they are modifying.

Adverbs can be used to express:

(a) time: ontem (‘yesterday’), hoje (‘today’), amanhã (‘tomorrow’), antes (‘before’),
depois (‘after’), agora (‘now’), já (‘already’, ‘straight away’), logo (‘later’), cedo
(‘early’), tarde (‘late’), então (‘then’), ainda (‘yet’, ‘still’), enfim (‘at last’), breve
(‘soon’), sempre (‘always’), de vez em quando (‘once in a while’).

(b) place: aqui, cá (‘here’), aí, ali, lá, acolá, (‘there’), perto (‘near’), longe (‘far’),
diante, à frente de (‘in front of’), atrás, detrás (‘behind’), acima (‘above’), em
cima (‘on’), por cima (‘over’), abaixo (‘below’), em baixo, por baixo (‘under’),
dentro (‘in’, ‘inside’), fora (‘out, outside’), onde (‘where’), algures (‘somewhere’).
8.1
Note: Some adverbs of place are used with reference to the position of the
speaker and/or the hearer:

aqui nearness to the speaker

aí nearness to the hearer
ali distance from both speaker and hearer
cá nearness to the speaker without reference to the position of the hearer

lá, acolá, além distance from the speaker without reference to the position of the
hearer
(c) manner: bem (‘well’), mal (‘badly’), assim (‘thus’), depressa (‘quickly’), devagar
(‘slowly’) and most adverbs ending in -mente (see 8.2).

(d) intensity: pouco (‘little’), muito (‘very’), menos (‘less’), demasiado (‘too much’),
quanto? (‘how much?’), tanto (‘as much’), tão (‘so’), mais (‘more’), demais (‘too
much’, ‘too many’), bastante (‘enough’), quase (‘almost’).

(e) doubt: talvez (‘perhaps’, ‘maybe’), por acaso (‘by chance’), possivelmente
(‘possibly’), provavelmente (‘probably’).

(f) negation: não (‘no’), nem (‘nor’), nunca (‘never’), jamais (‘never ever’).

(g) affirmation: sim (‘yes’), certamente (‘certainly’), realmente (‘really’).

(h) exclusion: só, somente (‘only’), unicamente (‘merely’), simplesmente (‘simply’),

exclusivamente (‘exclusively’), apenas (‘just’, ‘hardly’).

(i) interrogation: onde? (‘where?’), como? (‘how?’), porquê? (‘why?’), quando?

(‘when?’).

2. Adverbs ending in –mente

In Portuguese, many adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -mente (‘-ly’) to the
adjective:
Normal normalmente
normal normally

But adjectives ending in -o in the masculine singular change to the feminine singular
before the suffix -mente is added:

lento > lenta lentamente

slow slowly

There are two important characteristics of adverbs in -mente:

(a) Adverbs in -mente have no accents, even if the adjective from which they are
formed does:

fácil facilmente
easy easily
8.2
1
(b) When two or more adverbs are used in the same sentence, only the last one takes
the suffix -mente:

Ele guiava lenta e cuidadosamente.

He was driving slowly and carefully.

3. Other adverbs
The adjectives muito (‘a lot’), pouco (‘little’), demasiado (‘too much’), melhor
(‘better’) and pior (‘worse’) can also be adverbs, if qualifying a verb:

O professor trabalha muito. The teacher works a lot.

Ele come demasiado. He eats too much.
Pouco se sabe deste compositor. Little is known of this composer.

Adverbs may also consist of more than one word:

preposition + noun sem dúvida doubtlessly
preposition + adjective ao certo exactly
preposition + adverb pelo menos at least
two adverbs nunca mais never again

4. Position

Usually adverbs are placed before the adjective or after the verb they modify:
Que festa tão animada! What a lively party!
A rapariga chorou desesperadamente. The girl cried desperately.

Adverbs of time and place can either precede or follow the verb they modify:
O Tendai chegou hoje. Tendai arrived today.
Hoje quero ficar aqui. Today I want to stay here.

Adverbs of negation always precede the verb:

Ela nunca tinha feito isso. She had never done that.
Não há pão. There is no bread.

Degree
Comparative
comparative of superiority mais + adverb + (do) que more . . . than
Eu vivo mais longe do que tu.
I live further away than you.

comparative of equality tão + adverb + como/quanto as . . . as

A Nyasha vive tão longe quanto eu.
Nyasha lives as far away as I do.
comparative of inferiority menos + adverb + (do) que less . . . than
Tu vives menos longe do que nós.
You live closer than we do.

Note: There are adverbs with special comparative forms:

bem > melhor well better

A Tinashe canta melhor do que a Revai.

Tinashe sings better than Revai does.

mal > pior badly worse

Ela sente-se pior do que mim.

She feels worse than I do.

muito > mais a lot more

O Takunda come mais do que a Tadiwa.

Takunda eats more than Tadiwa does.

pouco > menos little, less

A Nyarai fala menos do que o Zanorashe.

Nyarai talks less than Zanorashe does.

Adverbs can be compared using o mais + adverb + possível:

Vou o mais depressa possível.

I’ll go as fast as I can.

Superlative
Adverb (minus final vowel) + -íssimo

Cantas muitíssimo bem.

You sing very well.

A professora mora pertíssimo.

The teacher lives very near.

(adapted from Portuguese – An Essential Grammar (2003))