There are three categories of adverbs and adverbial expressions: Time, Manner, and Place [Zeit, Art & Weise, Platz/Ort]. First, adverbs in German do not have endings (unlike English, where many end in -ly)! Second, their place in word order is different.
"NORMAL" WORD ORDER: T-M-P = Time-Manner-Place (after subject/verb)
| - Ich gehe | morgen | schnell | hin. |
| T | M | P |
If there are more adverbs of the same category, the more general precedes the more specific one:
| - Ich komme | morgen | früh. |
| T | T |
morgen is more general, früh more specific (it tells us when morgen).
It often occurs that a sentence begins with an adverb, typcially with adverbs of time. Exceptions result=TMP applies after subject/verb. Note also the resulting change in word order (inversion = verb-subject):
| T (Time/Zeit) | M (Manner/Art & Weise) | P (Place/Ort |
| Wann? Wie lange? | Wie? | Wo? Woher? Wohin? |
Here are examples of adverbs and adverbial expressions. You should be familiar with these (and their derivatives). (The translations are basic; usually, there are more, and they can vary depending on the context).
heute (today), immer (always), jetzt (now), nie (never), oft (often), schon (already), wieder (again), damals (then, at that time), früher (earlier), früh (early), spät (late), meistens (most), morgen (tomorrow), morgens (in the morning), täglich (daily), bald (soon)...
gern ('to like'), leider (unfortunately), anders (different), pünktlich (on time), sicher (certainly), hoffentlich (hopefully), besonders (especially), fast (almost), gleich (at once, immediately, the same), natürlich (naturally), schnell (fast, quick), vielleicht (maybe), schwer (heavy), schwierig (difficult), leise (quietly), wirklich (really, indeed), sehr (very), ganz (rather, very), ziemlich (rather, 'pretty'), regelmäßig (regularly), gewöhnlich (usually), ...
hier (here), da (there), dort (there), hin (back, 'to there'), her (forth, 'from here'), überall (everywhere), rechts (right), links (left), geradeaus (straight ahead), zu Hause (at home), in Italien, aus Schweden ...
|
If you cannot enter special characters directly: * Cut & Paste the appropriate character from here: ß - Ä - ä - Ö - ö - Ü - ü * Or, for the "ß" use the capital letter "B" (or an "sz"), for umlauts use these transcriptions: ä = ae; Ä = AE; ü = ue etc. |
© 1998ff. Horst Kurz. All rights reserved.