Published on May 27, 2024
Adverbial clauses: Spanish phrasing rules in two steps
Are you enjoying your Spanish learning journey but find it hard to tackle adverbial clauses? Spanish, just like English, uses adverbial clauses to express time, purpose or manner. And they are super useful if you are an intermediate learner looking to enrich your language.
With adverbial clauses, you’re likely to face two challenges. One is to learn the conjunctions introducing a clause. The other is to understand how to use the indicative and subjunctive mood within it.
Here’s what we’ll focus on in this article to help you understand adverbial clauses:
First, let’s clarify grammar terms. An ‘adverb’ is a word that adds more information to a verb or adjective. In English, they often end in ‘ly’. In Spanish, that ending is often ‘mente’. For example:
Now, what is an ‘adverbial clause? It’s not just one adverb but a group of words that function in the same way as a single adverb.
In this example, ‘para poder estudiar en Argentina’ is an adverbial clause and it expresses the purpose of studying Spanish.
There are three main types of adverbial clauses in Spanish:
Time:
Te llamaré en cuanto envíe el correo electrónico. (I will give you a call as soon as I send the email).
Manner:
Viajaré por el mundo como lo hicieron mis padres. (I will travel the world just as my parents did).
Purpose:
Busco un profesor de español para mejorar mi acento. (I am looking for a Spanish teacher to improve my accent).
Now that we understand adverbial clauses, let’s study common conjunctions. Conjunctions are words that introduce adverbial clauses.
Time:
Le escribiré cuando acabe con este proyecto. (I’ll write to him when I’m done with this project).
Purpose:
Salgo a correr todas las mañanas para mantenerme en forma. (I go running every morning to stay in good shape).
Manner:
Te acuestas tarde, como siempre ha hecho tu hermana mayor. (You go to bed late, as your older sister has always done.)
The trickiest thing about adverbial clauses in Spanish is the mood. It can be either indicative or subjunctive. While the indicative is quite straightforward, the subjunctive requires changes in the verb form, which is frequent in Romance languages.
So let’s learn the rules you’ll need when deciding whether to use the indicative or subjunctive in adverbial clauses. Spanish has two clear rules for this.
(1) If your sentence describes an action that happens regularly or has already happened, use the indicative.
(2) If the adverbial clause describes the action that may happen in the future or isn’t certain, use the subjunctive. The latter is also called ‘clausula adverbial’ in Spanish.
The first sentence describes a habitual action. The second one talks about a hypothetical situation.
Now let’s see how to decline the subjunctive in Spanish. Simply take the first person singular and replace the –o ending with the appropriate subjunctive ending:
| Subject | Verbs ending in -ar | Verbs ending in -ir/er |
| yo | -e | -a |
| tú | -es | -as |
| él/ella/usted | -e | -as |
| nosotros | -emos | -amos |
| vosotros | -éis | -áis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | -en | -an |
The subjunctive uses the ending –e in the third person singular because the verb ‘llegar’ ends with -ar.
The subjunctive uses the ending –an in the third person plural, since the verb ‘decir’ ends in -ir.
Now that you’ve learned these simple rules, are you feeling more confident in adverbial clauses? Spanish grammar rules are quite logical but definitely require practice.
Whether you’re speaking with a friend or doing a language course, make an effort to use them in conversation. Reading in Spanish is also a good way to study how these clauses are used in written language. See if you can find an adverbial clause the next time you read your favorite Spanish authors.
