Dealing With Spanish Adverbs
If Spanish adverbs are being used to qualify a verb, then it is customary to place it immediately after the verb. On the other hand, if an adverb is being used to qualify an adjective or another adverb, then it is customary to place it immediately before the adjective or the adverb in question. These two rules apply to English sentences and their Spanish translations.
Exceptions
However, there are several exceptions to both the above-mentioned rules, one of them being that adverbs that consist of two or more words should be placed at the end of the sentence. This rule, too, has its exception, because two juxtaposed adverbs may be placed at the beginning of a sentence for the sake of emphasis. Once again, these exceptions are as valid in the case of English sentences as in the case of their Spanish translations.
We shall now examine an instance where the English word order is reversed in the Spanish translation. This happens when only a 鈥榥o麓 and an adverb are used to form an English sentence. Thus, the English 鈥榥ot yet麓 will be translated into Spanish as 鈥榯odav铆a no麓. Similarly, the Spanish translation of the English 鈥榥ot tomorrow麓 will read as 鈥榤a帽ana no麓.
Spanish adverbs, unlike English adverbs, never separate the two parts of a compound tense. The correct Spanish translation of 鈥業 have always liked to travel麓 will, therefore, be 鈥楽iempre me ha gustado viajar麓. The Spanish translators should also keep in mind that an adverb is required after a verb in English, while it would be customary to replace the adverb with an adjective in the Spanish translation.听
Both English and Spanish adverbs can be compared to English and Spanish adjectives. Spanish adverbs are compared by placing 鈥榤谩s麓 or 鈥榤enos麓 before the adverb. Only four Spanish adverbs have irregular comparative forms.
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Example of Problems with Spanish Adverbs
The following are some of the challenges that might confront the translator while carrying out the Spanish translation of English adverbs of comparison:
- The Spanish translation for the English comparison of equality, namely, 鈥榓s + adverb + as麓 is 鈥榯an + adverb + como麓. For example, 鈥榮he doesn麓t speak as clearly as he麓 will be translated as 鈥榚lla no habla tan claramente como el麓.
- Without fail, the Spanish translation of the English adverbial phrase 鈥榓s much as麓 is 鈥榯anto como麓.
- Translators can render the English 鈥榯han麓 as 鈥榪ue麓 in Spanish whenever it is used in the comparison of two things, persons or actions; however, if used before numbers, 鈥榯han麓 is translated into 鈥榙e麓 and not 鈥榪ue麓. For example, 鈥榯his semester we are studying more than before麓 will be translated as 鈥榚ste semestre estudiamos m谩s que antes麓.
- When, instead of two things, entire ideas are compared, the correct Spanish translation of 鈥榯han麓 would be 鈥榙e lo que麓. For example, 鈥榯his gentleman works more than you think麓 will be translated as 鈥榚ste se帽or trabaja m谩s de lo que ustedes piensan麓.
- An English expression using a superlative form of adverbial comparison may be translated into Spanish as the neuter article 鈥榣o麓 + 鈥榤谩s麓 (or 鈥榤enos) + adverb + 鈥榩ossible麓.