How to Say "unexpectedly" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “unexpectedly” is “sorprendentemente” — B1 level.
Examples
Él habla español sorprendentemente bien.
He speaks Spanish surprisingly well.
Sorprendentemente, no llovió durante la boda.
Surprisingly, it didn't rain during the wedding.
La película fue sorprendentemente aburrida.
The movie was surprisingly boring.
The '-mente' Ending
This ending is just like '-ly' in English. It turns a descriptive word (adjective) into a word that describes an action or quality (adverb).
Word Order
You can put this word at the very beginning of a sentence followed by a comma to describe the whole situation, or just before the word you want to emphasize.
Mixing up 'sorprendente' and 'sorprendentemente'
Mistake: “El examen fue sorprendentemente.”
Correction: El examen fue sorprendente (The exam was surprising). Use the shorter 'sorprendente' to describe a person or thing directly, and the long version to describe how something happened.
Related Translations
Learn Spanish with Inklingo
Interactive stories, personalized learning, and more.