• What is an adverb of order?
• Examples of adverbs of order
• Sentences with adverbs of order
• Other types of adverb

We explain what adverbs of order are, their function, examples and their use in sentences. Also, other types of adverbs.

Order adverbs can indicate chronology or importance.

What is an adverb of order?

Adverbs of order are one of the categories of adverb that contemplates the Spanish language, that is, a type of words that modify other words specific: verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, or even also to prayers whole. Its name comes from the Latin word adverbium, made up of the words ad- ("Towards") and verbum ("verb").

Adverbs are words whose form does not usually vary and that have their own lexical meaning, always referring to a certain circumstance of how the actions expressed in the sentence occur. This may mean that they indicate the place, the way or the time in which things happen or, as in the case at hand, that they indicate the order in which things happen. The adverbs of order take care of the latter.

As their name implies, these adverbs allow us to express in the sentence what happened first and what happened next, or to indicate the subjective importance that we give to the content of the sentence, or even to indicate to the receiver what things should pay attention to first and what after.

In that sense, adverbs of order are epistemic adverbs, referring to a mental reality, rather than a tangible one, as are affirmative and negative, exclamatory and interrogative adverbs.

Examples of adverbs of order

Examples of adverbs of order are the following: first, second, then, later, first, lately, finally; as well as the following adverbial speeches: first, last, first of all, first of all, and so on.

Sentences with adverbs of order

As an example of use, the following are sentences that contain adverbs of order:

• First you wash your hands, and then you sit down at the table.
• The thieves eventually surrendered to the police.
• Miguel finished third in the obstacle course.
• You are very touchy lately.
• First of all, we demand respect from you, ma'am.
• And finally, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Other types of adverb

Apart from adverbs of order, there are other categories of adverbs, such as:

• Adverbs of place. They are those that express a spatial relationship with respect to what has been said, that is, they indicate where something happens or something is found. For example: there, here, there, outside, up, down, inside, between, etc.
• Adverbs of manner. They are those that express a specific way of doing something or in which things happen. For example: fast, good, bad, better, quick, regularly, etc.
• Time adverbs. They are those that express a chronological or temporal relationship, that is, they say when an action is carried out. For example: before, after, later, while, formerly, etc.
• Quantity adverbs. They are those that describe the proportion or the degree to which some action is carried out. For example: a little, a lot, a lot, more, less, etc.
• Adverbs of doubt. They are those that express a relationship of possibility or uncertainty regarding the facts, that is, of doubt or uncertainty. For example: maybe, maybe, probably, possibly, etc.
• Affirmative and negative adverbs. As its name says, they affirm or deny facts or situations, thus expressing the degree of agreement of the issuer with respect to what is said in the sentence. For example: yes, no, certainly, exact, never, never, etc.
• Interrogative and exclamatory adverbs. They are those who introduce sentences interrogatives or exclamatory, easily recognizable because they are always accentuated. For example: where, when, how, what, who, etc.