Confused by this lesson

Hi Claz,

Hope this helps:

As you know in Spanish there are adjectives that have a masculine form and a feminine form.

So as an example the adjective  'cómodo' (which means comfortable), is in it's masculine form-  'Él está cómodo'. The same adjective in it's feminine form is 'cómoda'- ' 'Ella está cómoda'.

When we want to turn a Spanish adjective that has both a masculine and feminine form into an adverb we take the feminine form and add 'mente' to the word. So, for example we take 'cómoda' (comfortable) and it
becomes 'cómodamente' (comfortably). Another example of an adjective that has both a masculine and feminine form-

'rápido' (quick)=masculine form, 'rápida'=feminine form. So, again to make this adjective an adverb we only take the feminine form, 'rápida' and we add 'mente' = rápidamente (quickly).

However, there are adjectives that only take one form for both masculine and feminine.

For example:

'feliz', 'Él es feliz'- He is happy and 'Ella es feliz'- She is happy.
So, to make this adjective an adverb we just add 'mente' to the word feliz= felizmente (happily). Another example- 'legal' in it's adjective form is the same for both masculine and feminine. So, again we just add 'mente' to make it an adverb- 'legalmente' (legally).

Just remember...

- if an adjective has both a masculine and feminine form only use the feminine form to make an adverb.

-if an adjective has only one form for both masculine and feminine just take that word and add 'mente' to make an adverb.

Clara :)

Claz - There is a reason why adverbs always use the feminine form of the adjective. In [Late] Latin, combinations were often constructed using the noun 'mens/mentis' plus an adjective [giving a phrase which indicated the 'way in which something was done']. 'Mens' [= "mind"] is a feminine noun, so the adjective had to be feminine too, to agree with it. When Castillian evolved out of Late Latin, those^ combinations were adapted as adverbs.

Thank you for that David. Your etymological explanation here is fascinating! 

A propósito... ¡Feliz año nuevo!

Clara :)