Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Maria parla lentamente e chiaramente.Maria speaks slowly and clearly.

An adverb of manner tells us how someone does something: bene, male, lentamente, facilmente. Most of them are built from an adjective by adding -mente, and they never change.

Quick shortcut: feminine singular adjective + -mente: lenta → lentamente, chiara → chiaramente. Adjectives ending in -e (except those in -le or -re) just add -mente: felice → felicemente.

1. Forming -mente adverbs

Take the feminine singular form of the adjective and add -mente:

Adjectives ending in -le or -re drop the final -e before -mente:

For adjective forms, see Adjective agreement.

2. Bene and male

Two very common adverbs are not built with -mente. They are the adverbs that go with buono (good) and cattivo (bad), and they have their own forms:

• bene (well): Maria canta bene. (Maria sings well.)
• male (badly): Giovanni parla male l'inglese. (Giovanni speaks English badly.)

Do not use buono or cattivo with a verb: ❌ Canti buono. → ✅ Canti bene.

3. Other adverbs and adjectives used as adverbs

Many everyday adverbs are short words of their own: presto (early, soon), tardi (late), meglio (better), peggio (worse), insieme (together), volentieri (gladly).

Some adjectives also work as adverbs. They keep the masculine singular form and never change:

• Parla piano, per favore. (Speak slowly, please.)
• Parla forte. (Speak loudly.)
• Questa borsa costa caro. (This bag is expensive.)
• Lavoriamo duro. (We work hard.)

4. Adverbs never change

An adverb describes the verb, so it does not change with the subject, unlike an adjective:

• Maria è lenta. (adjective: describes Maria, so it agrees with her)
• Maria parla lentamente. (adverb: describes the verb, so it never changes)

The same applies to the plural: I ragazzi parlano lentamente.

5. Where to put the adverb

The adverb of manner usually comes right after the verb:

• Parli bene l'italiano. (You speak Italian well.)
• Guido lentamente. (I drive slowly.)

With a compound tense, the adverb of manner normally comes after the participle:

• Ho dormito bene. (I slept well.)
• Hanno risposto gentilmente. (They answered kindly.)

You can strengthen or soften an adverb with molto, poco or troppo: Parla molto bene. For these words, see Quantifiers. For how often something happens, see Adverbs of frequency.

6. Asking "how?"

To ask about manner, use come: Come parla Maria? — Parla lentamente. See Question words.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Maria parla lenta. → ✅ Maria parla lentamente. (an adverb, not an adjective)
• ❌ Canti buono. → ✅ Canti bene. (the adverb of buono is bene)
• ❌ Lo fa facilemente. → ✅ Lo fa facilmente. (-le drops its e)
• ❌ Parla lentomente. → ✅ Parla lentamente. (use the feminine form)
• ❌ Giovanni guida veloci. → ✅ Giovanni guida velocemente. (adverbs don't take the plural)

Quick check

Here are a few sentences that need an adverb. Each one can be completed with the adverb that matches the word in brackets.

1. Maria parla ___. (lento)
2. Giovanni risolve il problema ___. (facile)
3. Loro lavorano ___. (regolare)
4. Mia nonna canta ___. (buono)
5. Ti rispondo ___. (gentile)
6. Il bambino ride ___. (felice)

Key takeaways

• Most adverbs of manner are made from the feminine singular adjective + -mente: lenta → lentamente.
• Adjectives in -le and -re drop the -e: facile → facilmente, regolare → regolarmente.
• Buono → bene and cattivo → male are special, and a few adjectives work as adverbs (piano, forte, caro).
• Adverbs never change, so Maria parla lentamente, but Maria è lenta.
• The adverb usually goes right after the verb, or after the participle in compound tenses.