Adverbs
Adverbien
An adverb is the part of speech that most often modifies a verb, e.g. runs fast, helps willingly, travels often. Sometimes it can also describe an adjective or another adverb.
It mainly answers the question wie? (how?), but also the following questions: wann? (when?), wo? (where?) and warum? (why?). Adverbs are not inflected. The only possible change of an adverb is its gradation, e.g. schnell (fast) - schneller (faster) - am schnellsten (fastest).
Examples
Adverbs modifying verbs
Er lernt schnell.
- Translation
- He learns fast.
- Explanation
- How does he learn? 👉 fast
Adverbs modifying adjectives
Ich bin fast gesund.
- Translation
- I am almost healthy.
- Explanation
- How healthy am I? (in the sense: How well did I recover?) 👉 almost (healthy)
Sie ist immer freundlich.
- Translation
- She is always friendly.
- Explanation
- When is she friendly? 👉 always
Adverbs modifying another adverb
Er spielt sehr gut Fußball.
- Translation
- He plays football very well.
- Explanation
- How well does he play football? 👉 very well
Er fährt wirklich schnell mit dem Auto.
- Translation
- He drives really fast.
- Explanation
- How fast does he drive a car? 👉 really fast
Construction
The placement of the adverb in the sentence
Adverb at the beginning of the sentence
If an adverb is at the beginning of a sentence then the sentence has the following order: Adverb + Predicate + Subject + ...
Bald müssen wir zum Flughafen fahren.
- Translation
- We have to go to the airport soon.
Sentences with an object
If there is no object in the sentence then the adverb is placed after the verb. In case the verb is reflexive then the adverb is placed after the reflexive pronoun.
Es regnet oft im Herbst.
- Translation
- It often rains in autumn.
Sie treffen sich meistens in einem Restaurant.
- Translation
- They most often meet (themselves) in a restaurant.
Adverbs modifying adjectives
If an adverb modifies an adjective, then the adverb is placed directly before the adjective.
Die Musik ist sehr laut.
- Translation
- The music is very loud.
Sentences with an object in the accusative case (Akkusativobjekt)
If the object in the sentence is in the accusative case (Akkusativobjekt), then the adverb is placed before the object.
Er braucht dringend ärztliche Hilfe.
- Translation
- He urgently needs medical assistance.
- Explanation
- ärztliche Hilfe (medical assistance) - direct object (Akkusativobjekt)
Sentences with an object in the dative case (Dativobjekt)
If the object in the sentence is in the dative (Dativobjekt), then the adverb is placed before the object.
Er hilft oft seiner Mutter.
- Translation
- He often helps his mother.
- Explanation
- seiner Mutter (his mother) - indirect object (Dativobjekt)
Sentences with a personal pronoun
If a personal pronoun (e.g. he, her) is present in the sentence, the adverb is placed right behind it.
Thomas hilft gern seinem Bruder. 👉 Thomas hilft ihm gern.
- Translation
- Thomas is eager to help his brother. 👉 Thomas is eager to help him.
Grading adverbs
The following rules describe how different kinds of adverbs are graded.
- Regular adverbs are graded by adding the suffix -er to create the comparative and to create the superlative by adding the word am before the adverb and the suffix -(e)sten.
- Gradation of the irregular adverbs does not follow specific rules, so you just have to memorize them.
- In monosyllabic adverbs, the vowels a, u, o in the comparative and superlative get an umlaut (Umlaut): a 👉 ä, o 👉 ö, u 👉 ü e.g. warm - wärmer - am wärmsten
- Adverbs ending with -t e.g. kalt, schlecht in the superlative get the suffix -esten instead of -sten (otherwise it would be difficult to pronounce them) e.g. kalt - am kältesten (
am kältsten), schlecht - am schlechesten (am schlechtsten).
Examples of grading regular adverbs
| positive |
comparative |
superlative |
translation |
| schnell |
schneller |
am schnellsten |
fast 👉 faster 👉 fastest |
| kalt |
kälter |
am kältesten |
cold 👉 colder 👉 coldest |
| schön |
schöner |
am schnönsten |
pretty 👉 prettier 👉 prettiest |
| langsam |
langsamer |
am langsamsten |
slowly 👉 slower 👉 slowest |
| billing |
billinger |
am billigsten |
cheap 👉 cheaper 👉 cheapest |
Examples of grading irregular adverbs
| positive |
comparative |
superlative |
translation |
| gut |
besser |
am besten |
good 👉 better 👉 best |
| gern |
lieber |
am liebsten |
willingly/gladly 👉 more willingly/preferably 👉 most willingly/most preferably |
| sehr/viel |
mehr |
am meisten |
very/much 👉 more 👉 the most |
| bald |
eher |
am ehesten |
soon 👉 sooner 👉 soonest |
| oft |
öfter/häufiger |
am häufigsten |
often 👉 more often 👉 most often |
Creating adverbs
Most often, adverbs are derived from nouns and adjectives, but it is also possible to create an adverb from a verb, in which case the form Partizip I is used.
By adding the suffix -weise to the noun
Ich bin mit dir zum Teil einverstanden. 👉 Ich bin mit dir teilweise einverstanden.
- Translation
- I partially agree with you.
- Explanation
- Sometimes instead of -weise we add -sweise e.g. Zum Beispiel (for example) - beispielsweise (for example).
By adding the suffix -erweise to the adjective
Es ist möglich, dass er ein Polizist ist. 👉 Er ist möglicherweise ein Polizist.
- Translation
- He is likely a policeman.
By adding the suffix -s to the noun
Am Morgen putze ich mir die Zähne. 👉 Morgens putze ich mir die Zähne.
- Translation
- I brush my teeth in the morning.
By adding the suffix -d (Partizip I) to the verb
Er steht und isst ein Sandwich. 👉 Er isst stehend ein Sandwich.
- Translation
- He is standing and eating a sandwich. 👉 He is eating a sandwich while standing.
Types of adverbs and their applications
Locative adverbs
They answer the questions: where / from where / where to?
Wo? (where?)
außen
- Translation
- outside / on the outside
Woher? (from where?)
von links
- Translation
- from the left
von oben
- Translation
- from above (from the top)
Wohin? (where to?)
dorthin
- Explanation
- In the sense of "to there" as an answer to the question Wohin? (where to?) e.g. Dorthin müssen wir gehen! (We must go there!), but not e.g. There is a car there. (Da steht ein Auto.). In this sense, "there" answers the question wo? (where?)
abwärts
- Translation
- down or downwards (direction; e.g. look down, go down)
runter
- Translation
- downwards / down (direction; e.g. look down)
hoch
- Translation
- upwards / up (direction; e.g. look up)
Temporal adverbs
They answer the questions: when / how often / how long / since when / till when?
Wann? (when?)
Wie oft/Wie lange? (how often / how long?)
Ab wann/Bis wann? (From when?/Until when?)
ab 8 Uhr
- Translation
- from 8 o'clock
ab dem neuen Jahr
- Translation
- from the new year
bis Mittwoch
- Translation
- until Wednesday
ab only in reference to a point of time in the future e.g. ab nächster Woche (from the next week)
Seit wann/Wie lange? (Since when?/How long?)
seit gestern
- Translation
- since yesterday
zwei Wochen lang
- Translation
- for two weeks
schon lange
- Translation
- for a long time
seit Januar 2016
- Translation
- since January 2016
seit can only be used in reference to a point of time in the past e.g. seit zwei Jahren (for two years)
Causal adverbs
They answer the questions: why / on what condition?
Warum/Weshalb? (Why?), Wieso? (How so?), Unter welcher Bedingung? (Unter what condition?)
deshalb
- Translation
- that's why / because of that
dadurch
- Translation
- thereby / this way
deswegen
- Translation
- for that reason / because of that
demnach
- Translation
- hence / therefore
folglich
- Translation
- therefore / consequently
Adverbs of manner (means), number and frequency
They answer the questions: how / how much?
Wie? (how?)
anders
- Translation
- in a different way
Wie sehr? (how much / to what extent?)
kaum
- Translation
- barely / with difficulty
maßvoll
- Translation
- in moderation / moderate
genauso gut/schlecht
- Translation
- just as good/bad
Wie viel? (how much?)
ganz
- Translation
- wholly / entirely
genauso viel/wenig
- Translation
- just as much/little
halb
- Translation
- half / halfway through
Relative adverbs
They refer to something mentioned in the previous sentence. We create them by prepending the prefix wo- to a preposition, e.g. für👉 wofür.
If the preposition starts with a, o, u, ü, we add -r to the wo- prefix, e.g. wo + -r + an 👉 woran or wo + -r + über 👉 worüber. The meaning of a relative adverb depends on what preposition it takes (e.g., an, mit, für, über) and what verb it refers to.
..., wo
Das ist der Ort, wo er parkt.
- Translation
- This is the place where he parks
..., woran
Jetzt weiß ich, woran du gestern gearbeitet hast.
- Translation
- Now I know what you were working on yesterday.
- Explanation
- woran in this sentence means "on what (or what ... on)" because the verb arbeiten takes the preposition an (to work on). For instance, given the verb sich gewöhnen an, which means "to get used to", the expression ..., woran ich mich gewöhnt habe would mean "..., what I got used to."
..., wofür
Er hilft mir immer, wofür ich dankbar bin.
- Translation
- He always helps me, for which I am grateful.
Exceptions and special cases
Some adverbs have an additional superlative form, which is created by adding the suffix -stens.
bestens (= am besten), höchstens (= am höchsten), wärmstens (= am wärmsten)
- Translation
- best, at most, warmest