Adverbs of Time

As their name suggests, adverbs of time are used to indicate when an action or process takes place. Typically, they affect the meanings of verbs, and usually they can also be thought of as affecting the meaning of the entire sentence. Most of them can be located either before or after the verb they refer to.

Here are the most common adverbs of time, along with a sample sentence for each:

• a menudo: often. A menudo la apariencia del sitio web cambia. Often the appearance of the website changes.
• ahora: now. Ahora sé porque mi hermano viajó a Estados Unidos. Now I know why my brother traveled to the United States.
• anoche: last night. El presidente durmió anoche en su casa. The president slept last night at home.
• anteayer: day before yesterday. El récord de demanda eléctrica se batió anteayer. The record for electricity demand was broken yesterday.
• aún: still, yet. La economía aún no ha tocado fondo. The economy still hasn't touched bottom.
• ayer: yesterday. Ayer buscamos información sobre ellos. Yesterday we looked for information about them.
• después: later. Después vi el sufrimiento de mis amigos. Later I saw the suffering of my friends.
• hoy: today. Hoy quiero estar contigo. Today I want to be with you.
• jamás: never. Jamás voy a alcanzar el nivel de Einstein. I'm never going to reach Einstein's level.
• luego: later. Luego cantaron canciones más recientes. Later they sang more recent songs.
• mañana: morning. Mañana probaremos otras opciones. Tomorrow we'll try other options.
• nunca: never. Es otro debate que nunca tuvimos. It's another discussion we never had.
• pronto: soon. No lo hago pronto. I'm not going to do it soon.
• siempre: always. Siempre tengo que trabajar en Navidad. I always have to work on Christmas.
• tarde: late. Llegaron muy tarde al concierto. They arrived very late to the concert.
• temprano: early. En el primer día de la escuela, se despertó temprano. On the first day of school, she got up early.
• ya: already. Ya dije que insultos no son permitidos. I already said that insults aren't allowed.

Note that some of the adverbs can be used as other parts of speech, especially nouns: Lo quiero para mañana. (I want it for tomorrow.) El periodismo de ayer era más divertido. (The journalism of yesterday was more fun.)

Days of the week can also function as adverbs:

• El próximo lunes nos vamos con Jack y Ana. Next Monday we're going away with Jack and Ana.
• Más de cuatrocientos peregrinos oraron este domingo. More than 400 pilgrims prayed this Sunday.