Introduction
We can divide adverbs into various categories, depending on whether they provide information about place, time, reason, or manner. We call these, respectively, locative adverbs, temporal adverbs, causal adverbs, and modal adverbs. Besides these types, there are also relative adverbs and conjunctional adverbs.
Locative Adverbs
Locative adverbs can be the answer to the questions “Where/Where … to/Where … from?”
- Example:
- Als wir ankamen, standen unsere Freunde ganz vorn an der Bühne.When we arrived, our friends were standing at the front near the stage.
- Aber dort drängten sich die Fans, darum blieben Rolf und ich hinten stehen.But the crowd was so thick there that Rolf and I stayed standing at the back.
Some important locative adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| aufwärts | upwards |
| außen | outside |
| da | here/there |
| dort | there/over there |
| drinnen | inside |
| fort | away |
| hier | here |
| hierhin | up to here |
| hinein | into |
| hinten | behind |
| irgendwo | somewhere |
| links | left (of) |
| nebenan | near |
| oberhalb | above |
| überall | everywhere |
| unten | below |
| vorn | in front |
Temporal Adverbs
Temporal adverbs are the answer to the questions “When/How long/How often/Until when/Since when?”
- Example:
- Gestern war ich mit Freunden auf einem Rockkonzert.Yesterday I was at a rock concert with some friends.
- Aber die Besucher fielen bereits beim ersten Song reihenweise um.But the audience immediately fell down, row after row, during the first song.
Some important temporal adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| bald | soon |
| bereits | already |
| bisher | until now |
| danach | thereafter |
| davor | beforehand |
| einst | once |
| endlich | eventually/finally |
| freitags | on Fridays |
| gestern | yesterday |
| immer | always |
| inzwischen | meanwhile |
| neulich | recently/lately |
| nie | never |
| oft | often |
| regelmäßig | regularly |
| sofort | immediately |
| stets | constantly |
| täglich | daily |
| vorhin | earlier |
| zurzeit | at the time |
Modal Adverbs
Modal adverbs are the answer to the questions “How/How much?”
- Example:
- Als wir ankamen, standen unsere Freunde ganz vorn an der Bühne.When we arrived, our friends were standing all the way at the front near the stage.
- Man verstand kaum ein Wort.You could hardly hear a word.
- Die Besucher des Konzerts waren größtenteils junge Mädchen, die bereits beim ersten Song reihenweise umfielen.The audience was mostly young girls, who immediately fell down, row after row, during the first song.
Some important modal adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| anders | different |
| äußerst | extremely |
| beinahe | nearly |
| bekanntlich | famously |
| ebenfalls | likewise |
| fast | almost |
| folgendermaßen | as follows |
| ganz | completely |
| genauso | exactly like |
| genug | enough |
| gern | gladly |
| größtenteils | mostly |
| hauptsächlich | mainly |
| hoffentlich | hopefully |
| kaum | hardly |
| leider | unfortunately |
| möglicherweise | possibly |
| reihenweise | row after row, by the dozen |
| sehr | very |
| so | so/thus/in that way |
| vielleicht | perhaps |
| wirklich | truly/really |
Causal Adverbs
Causal adverbs are the answer to the questions “How so/For what reason/Why/Under what condition?”
- Example:
- Unsere Freunde warteten deshalb nicht auf uns.Therefore our friends didn’t wait for us.
- Darum blieben Rolf und ich hinten stehen.Because of that, Rolf and I stayed standing at the back.
- Somit lichteten sich die Reihen.And with that, the crowd thinned out.
Some important causal adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| also | so, therefore |
| anstandshalber | for decency’s sake |
| dadurch | through that/because of that |
| darum | therefore/because of that |
| demnach | thus/according to that |
| demzufolge | whereby/accordingly |
| deshalb | therefore |
| folglich | consequently |
| sicherheitshalber | preventatively |
| somit | thus/therefore |
| trotzdem | despite that |
Relative Adverbs
We use relative adverbs in relative clauses. Relative adverbs usually refer to part of a sentence.
- Example:
- Unsere Freunde warteten deshalb nicht da auf uns, wo wir uns verabredet hatten.Therefore, our friends didn’t wait for us, where we had arranged to meet.
- Man verstand kaum ein Wort, worüber ich mich ärgerte.You could hardly hear a word, which annoyed me.
Some relative adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| wo | where |
| womit | with which |
| wofür | for which |
| worüber | about which |
Conjunctional Adverbs
We can use some adverbs to tie clauses together. Because these adverbs serve as conjunctions, they are called conjunctional adverbs. The clause that begins with a conjunctional adverb has the following form:
conjunctional adverb + finite verb + subject + rest of the clause
- Example:
- Dort drängten sich die Fans, darum blieben Rolf und ich hinten stehen.The crowd was really thick there, so Rolf and I stayed standing at the back.
Some conjunctional adverbs are, for example:
| German | English |
|---|
| außerdem | besides |
| danach | thereafter |
| deshalb | therefore |
| folglich | consequently |
| schließlich | finally |
| trotzdem | despite that |
| zuvor | previously |
Conjunctional adverbs can never be made comparative.
(see also Sentences with Conjunctions)
To Note
The conjunctional adverbs are the same as the causal adverbs in many cases (deshalb, daher, trotzdem, …). The difference in their categorisation depends on which meaning is more important.
When we want to emphasise that an adverb gives information about a reason, we describe it as a causal adverb.
- Example:
- Rolf und ich kamen später. Unsere Freunde warteten deshalb nicht auf uns.Rolf and I came later. Therefore, our friends didn’t wait for us.
- Aber dort drängten sich die Fans, darum blieben Rolf und ich hinten stehen.But the crowd was thick there, so Rolf and I stayed standing at the back.
If, however, we want to differentiate the type of connection between two parts of a sentence (is it a conjunction, subjunction, or a conjunctional adverb?), then we use the term conjunctional adverb.
- Example:
- Rolf und ich kamen später, deshalb warteten unsere Freunde nicht auf uns.Rolf and I came later, and therefore our friends didn’t wait for us.
- Aber dort drängten sich die Fans, darum blieben Rolf und ich hinten stehen.But the crowd was thick there, so Rolf and I stayed standing at the back.
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