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raferguson

Dec 4, 2009, 12:52 PM

Post #1 of 4 (11888 views)

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El habla rapido vs. rapidamente

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I was talking to somebody about talking rapidly, and I noticed that I was tending to say, "El habla rapidamente", and they were saying "El habla rapido".

I assume that I was speaking more correctly and formally by using the adverb rapidamente, and that they were simply speaking informally. Are adverbs on the decline in ordinary conversation? Is this a special case? Am I missing something? Are educated people more likely to use rapidamente? Or is this something more likely to be seen in writing than in ordinary speach?

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

La Isla

Dec 4, 2009, 3:30 PM

Post #2 of 4 (11879 views)

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Re: [raferguson] El habla rapido vs. rapidamente

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I believe that "rápido" is a perfectly correct form of the adverb and is probably used more commonly in speech than "rapidamente" simply because it's easier to say.

Peter

Dec 5, 2009, 4:35 AM

Post #3 of 4 (11857 views)

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Re: [raferguson] El habla rapido vs. rapidamente

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In your example, "el habla rapido", 'habla' seems to be used as a noun meaning 'speech' as saying "the rapid speech", and the adjective 'rapido' is used. To say, "He speaks rapidly," it seems it would then be correct to say, "Él habla rapidamente." I might choose to word that a bit different though, "Habla rapidamente él."

But more often I think I hear 'rapido' used to say 'fast' as in "He talks fast." In which case I am not sure which is more correct or if you can legitimately choose either. Perhaps a different example would make that more clear.

(This post was edited by Peter on Dec 5, 2009, 5:10 AM)

La Isla

Dec 5, 2009, 8:21 AM

Post #4 of 4 (11837 views)

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Re: [raferguson] El habla rapido vs. rapidamente

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From the dictionary of the Real Academia Española: rápido, da. .... 5. adv. m. rápidamente (‖ con celeridad). Volved rápido a casa

From the Diccionario del español usual en México: rápido 1 adj y adv Que dura o tarda poco tiempo, que se mueve, actúa o se realiza con gran velocidad: movimiento rápido, un viaje rápido, un caballo rápido, una atleta rápida, correr rápido, hablar muy rápido, ser rápido para multiplicar