Adverbs of manner express how the action of a verb occurs. In English, the vast majority of adverbs of manner end in -ly, whereas in Italian, they mostly end in –mente. In Italian (and English), many of these adverbs are created from adjectives, as follows.
Most of the time, take the feminine adjective and add –mente:
Masculine
Feminine
Adverb
Translation
aperto
aperta
apertamente
openly
attento
attenta
attentamente
carefully
felice
felice
felicemente
happily
lento
lenta
lentamente
slowly
risoluto
risoluta
risolutamente
resolutely
stanco
stanca
stancamente
tiredly
Exception: For adjectives that end in –le, –lo, or –re, the final vowel is dropped before adding –mente:
facile
facile
facilmente
easily
particolare
particolare
particolarmente
particularly
Adverbs that describe body movement or position are often created by adding –oni to verb stems (infinitive minus ending) and nouns.
Adverb
Translation
ciondolare
ciondol-
ciondoloni
with arms dangling
gatto
gatt-
gattoni
catlike
A few Italian adverbs of manner aren’t derived from other words:
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