Adverbs
Example Sentences | Adverbs | Adverb Order | Comparative | Superlative | Irregular Adverbs | Before and After | Hin and Her | Modifying Adjectives | Adverbial Suffixes | -lich | -s | -weise | Seperable Prefixes | Interrogative Words | Common Adverbs | Gern | Comparative and Superlative of Gern | Expression Using Gern
Now that we are done with the actual verb itself we move onto adverbs. These indicate how, when, where, or to what extent the verb operates. Where one can say I drive one may also say I drive fast and I drove yesterday.
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Er fuhr schnell. - He drove fast.
Er ist gestern angekommen. - He arrived yesterday.
Wir sind hierher geflogen. - We flew here.
Das stimmt ungefähr. - That's about right.
All of these are examples of adverbs. Almost all adjectives may be used as adverbs. Here is a list of some words which are always adverbs:
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| außerdem | besides |
hier | here |
| bald | soon |
jetzt | now |
| dort | there |
nie | never |
| gestern | yesterday |
nur | only |
| heute | today |
oben | up above, upstairs |
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When two or more adverbs or adverbial phrases occur in a sentence they come in this order:
(1) time, (2) manner, and (3) place:
Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Bonn. - I am going to Bonn by train tomorrow.
Although shorter items may on occasion come first:
Ich fühle mich hier ganz zu Hause. - I feel quite at home here.
And if two adverbs of the same type occur the more general one comes before the more specific one:
Wir werden uns heute um zwei Uhr treffen. - We shall meet today at two o'clock.
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The comparative form of adverbs is formed by adding -er:
Hans fährt schneller als sein Vater. - Hans drives faster than his father.
Ich werde langsamer sprechen. - I shall speak more slowly.
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The superlative form of adverbs is formed by adding am before the superlative which has an -en ending:
Hans fährt am schnellsten. - Hans drives fastest the fastest.
Die älteste Tochter sang am schönsten. - The oldest daughter sang the most beautifully.
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Here is a list of irregular adverbs:
| bald |
soon |
eher
früher |
am ehesten
am frühsten |
| gern |
gladly |
lieber |
am liebsten |
| gut |
well |
besser |
am besten |
| hoch |
high |
höher |
am höchsten |
| nah |
near |
näher |
am nächsten |
| oft |
often |
öfter |
am öfesten |
| viel |
much |
mehr |
am meisten |
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Where as in English you have one way to say before and after, in German there are three ways, depending on if it is used adverbially, prepositionally, or conjunctionally:
Adverbs: vorher and nachher
Prepositions: vor and nach
Conjunctions: bevor and nachdem
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Here we will look at the components hin and her:
Her indicates direction towards the speaker, and hin indicates direction away from the speaker:
Wohin gehen Sie? - Where are you going?
Woher kommen Sie? - Where do you come from?
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Adverbs may also be used to modify:
Adjectives:
Das ist höchst interessant. - That is most interesting.
Sie war recht enttäuscht. - She was quite disappointed.
Other adverbs:
Er fährt sehr schnell. - He drives very fast.
Er spielt ziemlich gut. - He plays fairly well.
Or even prepositions:
Es steht unmittlebar vor der Tür. - It stands immediately in front of the door.
Er ging gleich nach dem Frühstück. - He went straight after breakfast.
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| Many suffixes can be added to adjectives to form adverbs which is most like English's -ly:
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(1) -lich:
bekanntlich - as is well known
bitterlich - bitterly
schwerlich - hardly
sicherlich - certainly
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(2) -s:
abends - in the evenings
links - on the left
nachts - at night
besonders - especially
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(3) -weise:
beispielweise - by way of example
normalerweise - in the normal course of events
schrittweise - step by step
teilweise - partly
This last group usually conveys the speaker's or writer's view or opinion.
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Seperable prefixes are mostly made up of adverbs:
| ab | down, away |
weiter | further, on |
| auf | up |
wieder | again |
| fort, los, weg | away |
zurück | back, on |
| nieder | down |
zusammen | together |
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Also many interrogative words are adverbs:
| wann? | when? |
wie? | how? |
| warum? | why? |
weshalb? | on account of what? |
| wo? | where? (and its many components: wohin, woher...) |
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Very common words are adverbs:
| time |
| damals | then |
stets, immer | always |
| sofort, sogleich | immediately |
| place |
| außen | outside |
vorne | in front |
| degree |
| fast | almost |
genug | enough |
miscellaneous: ja, nein, nicht, noch, nun, and gern
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Gern actually needs a section of its own:
An alternative for gern is gerne which usually is used before words beginning with g.
Gern adds a sense of liking to the verb:
Wir essen gern Fisch. - We like eating fish.
Die Kinder schwimmen gern. - The children like swimming.
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The comparative (lieber) and superlative (am liebsten) add the same effect:
Ich habe Düsseldorf lieber als Stuttgart. - I like Düsseldorf better than Stuttgart.
Ich habe München am liebsten. - I like Munic best of all.
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Some common expressions involving gern are:
Gerne geschehen! - Don't mention it! (used in response to Thank You)
Dieses Modell wird gern gekauft. - This model is very popular.
Er ist überall gern gesehen. - He is welcome everywhere.
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