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The 100+ Most Common Italian Adverbs

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“Adjectives are the sugar of literature and adverbs the salt,” said the great American writer Henry James. So, let’s add some salt to your Italian with this amazing list of the 100+ most common Italian adverbs by ItalianPod101!

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  1. What is an Adverb?
  2. List of the Most Common Italian Adverbs
  3. Improve Your Italian While Having Fun with ItalianPod101

1. What is an Adverb?

Top Verbs

An adverb is an element in a sentence that can’t be inflected and which modifies the meaning of another element. As in Henry James’ quote, it adds something to a sentence, a nuance that makes it more meaningful and rich.

Let’s see an example:

  • Angela was walking back home.
  • Angela was tiredly walking back home. 

The adverb “tiredly” adds a new layer of meaning to the sentence and clarifies the image we may create of Angela while she was walking back to her house.

Well, now that we’ve convinced you of the importance of Italian adverbs, let’s see our amazing Italian adverbs list.

Woman Sitting on Floor with Speech Bubble above Her Head

2. List of the Most Common Italian Adverbs

1 – Italian Adverbs of Time

We start our list with the Italian time adverbs:

  • Oggi (“Today”)
    • Oggi Marta e Lorenzo si sposano.
      “Today, Marta and Lorenzo are getting married.”
  • Ieri (“Yesterday”)
    • Sono tornato ieri dall’Italia.
      “I came back from Italy yesterday.”
  • Domani (“Tomorrow”)
    • Domani andremo a Roma.
      “Tomorrow, we’ll go to Rome.”
  • Presto (“Soon”)
    • Spero di vederti presto.
      “I hope to see you soon.”
  • Tardi (“Late”)
    • Elena arriva sempre tardi.
      “Elena always arrives late.”
  • Prima (“Before”)
    • Prima di tornare a casa, sono andato al supermercato.
      “Before coming home, I went to the supermarket.”
  • Dopo (“After”)
    • Dopo aver cambiato lavoro, la mia vita è migliorata.
      “After I changed my job, my life got better.”
  • Ora (“Now”)
    • Ora sono troppo stanca per uscire.
      “Now I’m too tired to go out.”
  • Stamattina (“This morning”)
    • Stamattina Maria si è svegliata molto presto.
      “Maria woke up very early this morning.”
  • Stasera (“Tonight”)
    • Ti va di andare al cinema stasera?
      “Would you like to go to the cinema tonight?”
  • Subito (“Immediately”)
    • Giovanni, vieni subito qui!
      “Giovanni, come here immediately!”
  • Già (“Already”)
    • Ho già visto questo film.
      “I’ve already seen this movie.”
  • Ancora (“Again,” “Yet”)
    • Non ho ancora incontrato la ragazza di mio fratello.
      “I haven’t met my brother’s girlfriend yet.”
  • Ormai (“By now,” “Already”)
    • Ormai devono essere arrivati a Milano.
      “They must have arrived in Milan by now.”
  • Poi (“Then”)
    • Siamo andati a fare shopping e poi a cena.
      “We went shopping and then to dinner.”
A Couple Window Shopping Downtown

2 – Italian Adverbs of Frequency

Here’s a list of the most common Italian frequency adverbs:

  • Mai (“Never”)
    • Non sono mai stato in Cina.
      “I’ve never been to China.”
  • Sempre (“Always”)
    • Quando viaggio, porto sempre con me un buon libro.
      “When I travel, I always bring a good book with me.”
  • Spesso (“Often”)
    • I miei genitori sono spesso fuori città.
      “My parents are often out of town.”
  • Raramente (“Rarely”)
    • Mangio carne raramente.
      “I rarely eat meat.”
  • Di solito (“Usually”)
    • Di solito il sabato esco con i miei amici.
      “I usually go out with my friends on Saturday.”
  • A volte (“Sometimes”)
    • A volte mia sorella si alza all’alba e va a correre.
      “Sometimes my sister gets up at dawn and goes jogging.”
  • Costantemente (“Constantly”)
    • Luigi controlla costantemente il cellulare.
      “Luigi constantly checks his mobile phone.”

3 – Italian Adverbs of Place

  • Qui (“Here”)
    • Potremmo fermarci qui e fare un pic nic.
      “We could stop here and have a picnic.”
  • (“There”)
    • Non andare là!
      “Don’t go there!”
  • (“There”)
    • Vorrei andare lì domani.
      “Tomorrow, I’d like to go there.”
  • Ovunque (“Wherever”)
    • Il mio cane mi segue ovunque io vada.
      “My dog ​​follows me wherever I go.”
  • Dappertutto (“Everywhere”)
    • Ho cercato le chiavi dappertutto, ma non le trovo.
      “I looked for the keys everywhere, but I can’t find them.”
  • Dentro (“Inside”) 
    • Il sale è dentro la dispensa.
      “Salt is inside the pantry.”
  • Fuori (“Outside”) 
    • Per favore, vai a fumare fuori.
      “Please, go smoke outside.”
  • Giù (“Down,” “Below”)
    • Maria è scesa giù al primo piano.
      “Maria went down to the first floor.”
  • Su (“Up”)
    • Guarda su, il cielo è bellissimo.
      “Look up, the sky is beautiful.”
  • Lassù (“Up there”)
    • Lassù c’è un bellissimo castello.
      “There’s a beautiful castle up there.”
  • Laggiù (“Down there”)
    • Laggiù c’è un ottimo ristorante.
      “There’s a great restaurant down there.”
  • Sopra (“Above”)
    • Sopra il tavolo c’è un vaso.
      “Above the table, there’s a vase.”
  • Sotto (“Below”) 
    • Sotto il tavolo c’è il gatto.
      “Below the table, there’s the cat.”
  • Vicino (“Nearby”)
    • Ho parcheggiato vicino.
      “I’ve parked nearby.”
  • Lontano (“Far away”)
    • Matteo si è trasferito lontano, in un’altra città.
      “Matteo has moved far away, in another city.”
  • Intorno (“Around”)
    • C’è un bel giardino intorno alla casa.
      “There’s a nice garden around the house.”
  • Altrove (“Somewhere else”)
    • In questo momento vorrei tanto essere altrove.
      “At this moment, I’d really like to be somewhere else.”
  • Davanti (“In front of”)
    • Di fronte alla chiesa c’è un bel caffè.
      “There’s a nice café in front of the church.”
  • Dietro (“Behind,” “Back”)
    • Si è nascosto dietro la tenda.
      “He hid behind the curtain.”
  • Ci (“There”) [also used as a desinence]
    • Mi farebbe molto piacere esserci.
      “I’d really like to be there.”
  • Vi (“There”) [also used as a desinence]
  • Ne (“[Away] from there/here”)
    • Se ne sono andati da due ore.
      “They went away two hours ago.”
  • Via (“Away”)
    • È tardi, andiamo via.
      “It’s late, let’s go away.”
People Going on Holiday

4 – Italian Adverbs of Manner

A tip: You can turn many Italian adjectives into adverbs of manner by adding –mente to feminine adjectives, which is a pattern you’ll notice often in this section. But it doesn’t always work. For example, you can’t turn cattivo into an adverb by simply adding –mente. 

The most important Italian adverbs of manner are:

  • Lentamente (“Slowly”)
    • Il latte caldo va bevuto lentamente.
      “Hot milk must be drunk slowly.”
  • Velocemente (“Quickly”)
    • Ho mangiato velocemente e sono tornato al lavoro.
      “I ate quickly and got back to work.”
  • Attentamente (“Carefully”)
    • Ascolta attentamente quello che dico.
      “Listen carefully to what I say.”
  • Facilmente (“Easily”)
    • Lucia ha passato l’esame facilmente.
      “Lucia easily passed the exam.”
  • Semplicemente (“Simply”)
    • Ho semplicemente detto di sì alla sua offerta.
      “I simply said yes to his offer.”
  • Dolcemente (“Sweetly”)
    • La baciò dolcemente sulle labbra.
      “He sweetly kissed her on her lips.”
  • Tranquillamente (“Calmly”)
    • Un uomo cammina tranquillamente sulla spiaggia.
      “A man calmly walks on the beach.”
  • Perfettamente (“Perfectly”)
    • Questo vestito ti sta perfettamente.
      “This dress fits you perfectly.”
  • Bene (“Well”)
    • La presentazione è andata molto bene.
      “The presentation went very well.”
  • Male (“Badly,” “Rudely”)
    • Monica ha risposto male a sua madre.
      “Monica responded rudely to her mother.”
  • Chiaramente (“Clearly”)
    • Il professore ha spiegato tutto molto chiaramente.
      “The professor explained everything very clearly.”
  • Letteralmente (“Literally”)
    • Sono letteralmente senza parole.
      “I’m literally out of words.”
  • Onestamente (“Honestly”)
    • Onestamente, non so di cosa stai parlando.
      “Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
  • Gentilmente (“Gently”)
    • La neve cominciò gentilmente a cadere.
      “Snow started gently to fall.”
  • Bruscamente (“Abruptly”)
    • L’auto frenò bruscamente.
      “The car broke abruptly.”
  • Improvvisamente (“Suddenly”)
    • Improvvisamente è spuntato il sole.
      “Suddenly, the sun came out.”
  • Freddamente (“Coldly”)
    • Ci accolsero freddamente.
      “They received us coldly.”
  • Calorosamente (“Warmly”)
    • Ci siamo salutati calorosamente e siamo partiti.
      “We said goodbye warmly and left.”
  • Correttamente (“Correctly,” “Properly”)
    • Sul lavoro si è sempre comportato correttamente.
      “At work, he’s always behaved properly.”
  • Duramente (“Hardly,” “Hard”)
    • Ho lavorato duramente per la mia carriera.
      “I worked hard for my career.”
  • Volentieri (“Gladly”)
    • Sarei venuto con voi volentieri, ma non potevo.
      “I would have come with you gladly, but I couldn’t.”
  • Forte (“Strongly,” “Quickly”)
    • Federica correva forte incontro a suo padre.
      “Federica was running quickly toward her father.”
Girl Running

5 – Italian Adverbs of Degree or Addition

  • Molto (“Much”)
    • Il film non mi è piaciuto molto.
      “I didn’t like the film much.”
  • Poco (“Little”)
    • A cena ho mangiato poco.
      “At dinner, I ate little.”
  • Troppo (“Too much”)
    • Stamattina ho dormito troppo.
      “I slept too much this morning.”
  • Piuttosto (“Quite,” “Rather”)
    • I mobili sono piuttosto belli, ma vecchi.
      “The furniture is quite nice, but old.”
  • Abbastanza (“Quite,” “Sufficiently”) 
    • Maria è abbastanza soddisfatta del nuovo lavoro.
      “Maria is quite satisfied with her new job.”
  • Più (“More,” “Most”)
    • Matteo è più bello di Antonio.
      “Matteo is more handsome than Antonio.”
  • Meno (“Less”)
    • Camminiamo meno di un tempo.
      “We walk less than (what we used to do) once.”
  • Meglio (“Better”)
    • Oggi mia nonna si sente meglio.
      “Today, my grandmother is feeling better.”
  • Peggio (“Worse”)
    • L’esame era difficile, ma pensavo peggio.
      “The exam was difficult, but I thought it was worse.”
  • Moltissimo (“Very much”)
    • La cena mi è piaciuta moltissimo.
      “I liked the dinner very much.”
  • Pochissimo (“Very little”)
    • Mio cugino guadagna pochissimo.
      “My cousin earns very little.”
  • Come (“How,” “Like,” “As much as”)
    • Paolo è come un fratello per me.
      “Paolo is like a brother to me.”
  • Inoltre (“Moreover”)
    • Volevo dirti, inoltre, che abbiamo finito lo zucchero.
      “I wanted to tell you, moreover, that we’re out of sugar.”
  • Pure (“Also,” “Too”)
    • Vorrebbe venire pure Flavia, va bene?
      “Flavia would like to come too, is it okay?”
  • Persino (“Even”)
    • Persino mio figlio si è divertito.
      “Even my son had a great time.”
  • Addirittura (“Even”)
    • Era così freddo che siamo addirittura partiti prima della fine del concerto.
      “It was so cold that we even left before the end of the concert.”
A Concert

6 – Italian Question Adverbs

  • Dove (“Where”)
    • Dov’è andata Gianna?
      “Where did Gianna go?”
  • Quando (“When”)
    • Quando tornerai dagli Stati Uniti?
      “When will you come back from the United States?”
  • Come (“How”)
    • Come ti senti oggi?
      “How are you feeling today?”
  • Perché (“Why”)
    • Perché non ci raggiungete più tardi?
      “Why don’t you join us later?”

7 – Italian Adverbs of Exclamation

  • Come (used to emphasize a sentence)
    • Come sono felice di vederti!
      “I’m so happy to see you!”
  • Quanto (used to emphasize a sentence)
    • Quanto mi manchi!
      “I miss you so much!”

8 – Italian Adverbs of Affirmation, Negation, and Doubt 

  • (“Yes”)
    • Sì, mi piacerebbe venire a cena con te.
      “Yes, I’d like to go to dinner with you.”
  • Certo (“Of course”)
    • Certo, ormai è troppo tardi.
      “Of course, now it’s too late.”
  • Davvero (“Really”)
    • Ho davvero voglia di un gelato.
      “I’d really like an icecream.”
  • Sicuramente (“For sure”)
    • Io e mio marito ci saremo sicuramente.
      “My husband and I will be there for sure.”
  • Proprio (“Really”)
    • Sono proprio contento che siate venuti a trovarmi.
      “I’m really happy that you went to see me.”
  • No (“No”)
    • A: Vieni con noi? 
      B: No, sono stanco.

      A: “Will you come with us?”
      B: “No, I’m tired.”
  • Non (“Not”)
    • Giorgio non è andato a scuola oggi.
      “Giorgio didn’t go to school today.”
  • Nemmeno (“Even [negative],” “Neither,” “Not even”)
    • Nemmeno io sopporto quella donna.
      “Even I can’t stand that woman.”
  • Affatto (“At all”)
    • Questo vino non mi piace affatto.
      “I don’t like this wine at all.”
  • Forse (“Maybe”)
    • Forse stasera sono libera.
      “Maybe tonight I’m free.”
  • Probabilmente (“Probably”)
    • Probabilmente alla festa ci sarà anche Mauro.
      “Mauro will probably be at the party, too.”

3. Improve Your Italian While Having Fun with ItalianPod101

More Essential Verbs

We hope you enjoyed learning about Italian adverbs with us, and that you learned some new words for your next conversation! Are there any adverbs we missed that you want to know? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll do our best to help you out! 

ItalianPod101.com is an extensive source for everything Italian, including amazing word lists, comprehensive blog posts (like our articles about Italian adjectives and nouns), apps, video lessons, and everything you need to improve your knowledge of this fascinating language. And learning with us is so fun that you won’t ever feel tired! Check out our courses, find Italian adverbs exercises and in-depth lessons, and start on the road to fluency.

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