Adverbs (Adverbien) are words that are used to describe verbs, adjectives, or sometimes other adverbs. They provide information about how, when, where, or why something happens.
Unlike adjectives, adverbs are never declined, i.e., they do not change their form based on gender, case, or number.
Adverbs vs. Adjectives
In English, we often add "-ly" to adjectives to form adverbs (quick → quickly).
Many words can function as both adjectives and adverbs:
Example | Function | English |
Das Auto ist schnell. | Adjective (describing the noun Auto) | The car is fast. |
Er fährt schnell. | Adverb (describing the verb fahren) | He drives fast/quickly. |
Adjectives describe nouns (answering what kind?), while adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (answering how? when? where? why?).
Types of Adverbs
German adverbs are categorized by the type of information they provide:
Type | German Term | Question | Examples |
Time | Temporaladverbien | Wann? (When?) | heute, gestern, morgen |
Place | Lokaladverbien | Wo? Wohin? (Where?) | hier, dort, oben |
Manner | Modaladverbien | Wie? (How?) | gern, schnell, leider |
Cause/Reason | Kausaladverbien | Warum? (Why?) | deshalb, darum, trotzdem |
1. Adverbs of Time
These adverbs answer the question Wann? (When?) or Wie oft? (How often?).
German | English |
heute | today |
morgen | tomorrow |
vorgestern | day before yesterday |
gerade | just now |
noch | still/yet |
Adverbs of Frequency
German | English | Frequency |
immer | always | 100% |
meistens | mostly/usually | ≈ 90% |
oft / häufig | often / frequently | ≈ 70% |
manchmal | sometimes | ≈ 50% |
selten | rarely | ≈ 20% |
nie / niemals | never | 0% |
Days of the Week as Adverbs
To express habitual actions on a specific day, add -s to the day and use lowercase:
Noun (specific day) | Adverb (habitual) | English |
am Montag (on Monday) | montags (on Mondays) | every Monday |
am Nachmittag (in the afternoon) | nachmittags | every afternoon |
am Abend (in the evening) | abends | every evening |
Examples:
- Ich gehe montags ins Fitnessstudio. (I go to the gym on Mondays.)
- Er arbeitet abends. (He works in the evenings.)
2. Adverbs of Place
These adverbs answer the questions Wo? (Where?) or Wohin? (Where to?).
Common Place Adverbs
German | English | German | English |
hier | here | dort / da | there |
oben | above/upstairs | unten | below/downstairs |
vorne | in front | hinten | behind/in back |
links | left | rechts | right |
überall | everywhere | nirgendwo | nowhere |
irgendwo | somewhere | nebenan | next door |
Direction with hin and her
The particles hin (away from speaker) and her (toward speaker) indicate direction:
Adverb | Meaning | Example |
hinein | into (away from speaker) | Geh hinein! (Go inside!) |
herein | into (toward speaker) | Komm herein! (Come in!) |
hinauf | up (away from speaker) | Geh hinauf! (Go up!) |
herunter | down (toward speaker) | Komm herunter! (Come down!) |
3. Adverbs of Manner
These adverbs answer the question Wie? (How?) and describe the way something is done.
German | English |
gern(e) | gladly/with pleasure |
schnell | quickly |
leider | unfortunately |
allein | alone |
vielleicht | maybe/perhaps |
hoffentlich | hopefully |
kaum | hardly |
gern and gerne are interchangeable, though gern is more common in everyday speech.
Some adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs to show intensity:
German | English | Example |
sehr | very | Das ist sehr gut. (That is very good.) |
ziemlich | quite/fairly | Er ist ziemlich müde. (He is quite tired.) |
total / völlig | totally/completely | Das ist total falsch. (That's totally wrong.) |
4. Adverbs of Cause
These adverbs answer the question Warum? (Why?) and often connect sentences:
German | English | Example |
deshalb / darum / deswegen | therefore / that's why | Ich bin müde, deshalb gehe ich ins Bett. |
trotzdem | nevertheless / anyway | Es regnet, trotzdem gehe ich spazieren. |
daher | hence / therefore | Er ist krank, daher bleibt er zu Hause. |
folglich | consequently | Sie hat nicht gelernt, folglich ist sie durchgefallen. |
Word Order: Causal adverbs like deshalb, trotzdem, etc. occupy Position 1 and cause subject-verb inversion:
Deshalb gehe ich ins Bett.
Previously the subject ich was before the verb, but due to the presence of the causal adverb, the subject appears after the verb.
Pronominal Adverbs (da- + Preposition)
German forms adverbs by combining da- (or dar- before vowels) with prepositions. These are used to refer to things (not people):
Adverb | Meaning | Example |
dafür | for it/that | Ich bin dafür. (I'm in favor of it.) |
damit | with it/that | Was machst du damit? (What are you doing with it?) |
darüber | about it/that | Wir sprechen darüber. (We're talking about it.) |
daran | on/at it | Ich habe nicht daran gedacht. (I didn't think about it.) |
davor | in front of it / before it | Ich habe Angst davor. (I'm afraid of it.) |
Position of Adverbs in Sentences
Adverbs can appear in two main positions:
Position 1 (Beginning)
When an adverb starts the sentence, the verb comes next (subject-verb inversion):
- Heute ist das Wetter schön. (Today the weather is nice.)
- Leider kann ich nicht kommen. (Unfortunately, I can't come.)
Middle Position
When the adverb is in the middle of a sentence:
Rules for middle position:
- Adverbs come before accusative noun objects
- Adverbs come after dative noun objects
- Adverbs come after all pronoun objects
Example | Rule Applied |
Ich kaufe oft Blumen. | Adverb before accusative noun |
Ich gebe dem Mann gern Geld. | Adverb after dative noun |
Ich gebe es ihm gern. | Adverb after pronouns |
Comparative and Superlative of Adverbs
Some adverbs can form comparative and superlative forms, just like adjectives:
Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
schnell | schneller | am schnellsten |
oft | öfter | am häufigsten |
gern | lieber | am liebsten |
gut | besser | am besten |
Examples:
- Ich laufe schneller als du.
- Ich esse lieber Pizza als Pasta.
- Ich esse am liebsten Schokolade.
And when multiple adverbs appear together, they typically follow the TeKaMoLo order: Time → Cause → Manner → Place. Check the lesson on Word Order.