Posted by The German adverbs as a topic is quite interesting as far as learning the German language is concerned. It consists of different subgroups which define how they are used. One or two of these smaller groups are further classified as part of a whole- temporal, kausative, modal, locative adverbs. Find out…
| Contents in this post |
|---|
| 1. Definition of adverbs 2. How to use adverbs in German 2. Adverbs of place 3. Adverbs of direction 4. Adverbs of time 5. Adverbs of degree 6. Adverbs of manner 7. Adverbs of frequency 8. Adverbs of reason |
Adverbs are words that modify a verb, an adjective or even another adverb. Adverbs play an important role in flexing the word order of a sentence. They rotate between two positions in a German sentence i.e at the beginning (the preverbal position) or in the third position in a german sentence.
In English, adverbs may be easily identified with the suffix “-ly” when it is coined from an adjective whereas in german they have no definite end-suffix for identification. They are equally not declined.
How to use adverbs in German
As a rule in the formation of a standard german sentence, an adverb must always be placed before, a particle, an adjective and an object (direct, indirect & prepositional object) i.e directly after the verb within a sentence and directly after the subject in a question except the object is a pronoun then it can come directly after the aforementioned in the absence of other rules.
Sometimes, there can be a series of adverbs used in a sentence and so it becomes difficult to choose which should come first. In this instance, the adverb is chosen based on the acronym TeKaMoLo which represents the classification; Temporal, Kausal, Modal and Lokal Adverbs. There are several categories of adverbs as listed below;
Adverb of place
An Adverb of place is used to tell the location or where something is found. It is usually associated with the question word “wo?”. Examples are;
| German | English | usage |
|---|---|---|
| hier | here | Ich bleibe hier der ganze Tag. |
| da | there | Bist du noch da? |
| dort | (over) there | Dort bekommt man kein Geld. |
| hause | home | ich bin zu Hause. |
| vorn/vorne | at/in (the) front | Warum sitzt Janet vorne? |
| hinten | at the back/ behind | Sara sitzt hinten |
| oben | up/upstairs | Wir gehen nach oben |
| unten | under | bleib bitte unten |
| rechts | right side | wenden Sie bitte rechts. |
| links | left side | wenden Sie links |
| irgendwo | somewhere | irgendwo in Deutschland trinkt man Kaffee. |
| nirgendwo(hin) | nowhere/ not anywhere | du gehts nirgendwohin. |
| überall | everywhere | überall gibt es Covid |
| außen/draußen | outside | Mein Vater ist draußen im Garten. |
| innen/ drinnen | inside | Wir feiern die Party drinnen |
Adverb of direction
These are adverbs that gives description or directive to a location. They are formed from certain adverbs of place with the addition of the preposition “nach“ to indicate movement even though it is not literally translated in English. These adverbs can otherwise be termed „adverb of place in motion“. They include;
| German | English | Sentences |
|---|---|---|
| nach oben | up/upstairs | Laura ist gerade nach oben gegangen. (Laura has just gone upstairs) |
| nach unten | bottom/ down | Ich gehe nach unten. (I am going downstairs) |
| nach hinten | backwards | Der Bus fährt nach hinten. (the bus is moving backwards) |
| nach vorne | forward | Ich gehe kurz nach vorne. (I am going forward shortly) |
| nach Hause | home | Wir gehen nach Hause. (we are going home) |
| nach links | (to/towards) left | Fahren Sie bitte nach links. (please drive towards left) |
| nach recht | (to/towards) right | und dann nach rechts wenden. (and then turn right) |
Adverbs of Time
These are adverbs that tell exactly when something is done. The examples of these adverbs are often used in connection with the question-word “wann?”. It is divided into sub-categories namely;
- Specific duration
- Non-specific duration
Specific Duration of Time
These adverbs of time are used in scope of a period in time without being specific. They are formed by combining certain prepositions such as um, unter, an and in with the seconds of the minute, the minutes of the hour, the hours of the day, the days of the week, the months and even the seasons of the year which are all nouns. These adverbs are referred to as Zeitangaben in german. Some examples are;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| morgen | tomorrow |
| gestern | yesterday |
| übermorgen | a day after tomorrow |
| heute | today |
| vorgestern | a day before yesterday |
| um Eins | by/at one (am/pm) |
| um sechs, drei, acht… Uhr | by/at six, three eight… (am/pm) |
| in dreißig, zehn, fünfzehn… (Sekunden/ Minuten/ Stunden) | in thirty, ten, fifteen… seconds |
| am Morgen/ Vormittag/ Mittag/ Nachmittag/ Abend | in the morning/ before noon/ noon/ afternoon/ evening |
| in der Nacht | in the night |
| am Tag | in the day |
| am Montag/ Dienstag/ Sonntag… | on Monday/ Tuesday/ Sunday |
| am Wochenende | on the weekend |
| unter der Woche | under the week (Monday to Friday) |
| in der Woche | in the week (Monday to Sunday) |
| im Monat | in the month |
| im Jahr | in the year |
| im September, August, Mai etc. | In September/ August/ May |
| im Herbst, Winter, Frühling | in Autumn, Winter/ Spring |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Mein Zug kommt um 6.00 Uhr an.–– my train is arriving at 6 am. 2. Peter und Petra heiraten im August.–– Peter and Petra are getting married in august. 3. Ich bin im Sommer geboren.–– I was born in summer. 4. Musst du am Mittwoch das Haus aufräumen?–– Do you have to clean up the house on wednesday? |
Non-Specific Duration of Time
Adverbs that belong in this category of adverb of time are often used with a definite and more precise duration of time. I.e with reference to the 24hours we have on the clock. Examples of this adverbs are;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| zurzeit/ derzeit | presently |
| früh | early |
| jetzt | now |
| bald | soon |
| sofort | immediately |
| später | later |
| dann | then |
| damals | back then |
| gleich | instantly |
| noch | stillt/yet |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Die alte Frau hat früh die Kinder zum Kindergarten gebracht.—— The old woman brought the children to school today. 2. Das kluge Mädchen hat jetzt den Preis gewonnen.—— The clever Girl has now won the prize. |
**Note that: when making a sentence in german that involves a specific adverb of time in the future tense , the future tense auxiliary verb “werden” may or ,may not be used. The sentences should instead be made with the adverbs alone. See examples below.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. I will travel to Turkey tomorrow.—— Ich werde morgen in der Türkei reisen.❌ 2. I will travel to Turkey tomorrow.—— Ich reise morgen in der Türkei.✅ 3. Susan will come soon–– Susanne kommt bald. 4. My parents are visiting my grandparents today–– Meine Eltern besuchen heute meine Großeltern |
Adverb of degree
These Adverbs are used to tell how far, how much or to what extent something is done. The question word associated with these adverbs is “wie viel”. Examples of these Adverbs include;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| sehr komplett total wirklich ganz äußerst gern vielleicht möglicherweise eigentlich insgesamt auch fast genug sicher ziemlich | very completely totally really entirely extremely gladly/preferably perhaps/maybe possibly actually in total also/ too almost enough surely/ certainly quite |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Ich bin fast fertig.—— I am almost done. 2. Es tut uns wirklich leid, wir können nicht mehr koimmen.—— we are really sorry, we can’t come anymore. 3. Wohnst du auch in Berlin?—— do you reside also in Berlin? |
Adverbs of manner
These Adverbs describe how or the way something is done. The question-word associated with these adverbs is “wie”. Some examples are;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| gut gemeinsam zusammen leise schlecht gefährlich sogar furchtbar plötzlich absolut zwar besonders einfach kaum schlecht super toll ärmlich fließend glücklich traurig | well jointly together quietly badly dangerously evenly terribly suddenly absolutely truly specially easily hardly badly amazingly greatly poorly fluently happily sadly |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Das hast du gut gemacht.—— you did that well. 2. Könnt ihr bitte leise lesen?—— can you guys please read quietly. 3. Die Jungen aus dem Unfall wurden schlecht verletzt.—— the boys from the accident were badly injured. |
Adverbs of Frequency
These adverbs are used to describe how often or the percentage of how something is done. The are usually associated with the question-word “wie oft”. Some examples are listed below.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| oft immer täglich* morgens* mittags* nachmittags* abends* nachts* freitags* montags* wochentlich* jährlich* monätlich* selten nie/niemals manchmal immer wieder für immer wöchentlich nochmals mehrmals einmal | often always daily mornings noons afternoons evenings nights fridays mondays weekly yearly monthly rarely never/ not ever sometimes repeatedly/ over and over forever weekly again severally once |
* They are can be translated also in english with “every” when the suffix “-s” is removed. For example; “freitags” can also mean “every friday”.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Ich gehe manchmal mit meiner Mutter spazieren.—— I go for a walk sometimes with my mother. 2. Das Baby weint immer wieder.—— The baby cries repeatedly. 3. Meine Tante besucht mich niemals, weil ich sehr weit weg lebe.—— my aunt never visits me because I live very far away. |
Adverbs of reason
These adverbs explain the „why“, the purpose, the target and aim of doing something. This group of adverbs are also used as conjunctions to connect sentences to each other. They are usually the answer to questions with the question-words “warum and wieso”. Some examples are listed below.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| darum/deshalb deswegen/daher darüber andernfalls notfalls deinetwegen meinetwegen sonst | for this therefore upon this otherwise if necessary because of you because of me if not |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. komm schnell nach Hause, andernfalls werde ich das Brot alleine essen.–– come home quick otherwise i’ll eat the bread alone. 2. Deinetwegen will Cara nach Frankreich nicht mehr umziehen.–– Because of you Cara does not want to relocate to France anymore. |