Tina walked to school happily. | How did she walk to school?  Happily. |
Do you want to stay here? | Where do you want to stay? Here. |
Jason often goes to the mall. | How often does Jason go to the mall? Often. |
Form
There are three different forms of adverbs.
1. Adverbs that are derived from an adjective
An example of an adjective looks like this: nervous. Adjectives describe nouns. If you want to describe a verb, you need an adverb. Therefore you have to add -ly nervous + ly = nervously
nervous + ly = nervouslySome more examples:
Form
Es gibt drei verschiedene Typen von Adverbien.
1. Adverbien, die von einem Verb abgeleitet sind
Ein Beispiel für ein Adjektiv sieht so aus: nervous. Adjektive beschreiben Nomen. Wenn du ein Verb beschreiben willst, brauchst du ein Adverb. Dafür musst du -ly an das Adjektiv anhängen nervous + ly = nervously
nervous + ly = nervouslyEinige weitere Beispiele:
- a free lesson speaking freely
- a nice child she sings nicely
- a generous person he spends money generously
- a loud noise he speaks loudly
- a quiet place she sleeps quietly
"y" at the end of the word becomes "i": | happy happily |
The ending -le is replaced by -ly: | subtle subtly |
To adjectives that end on -ic you have to add -ally: | dynamic dynamically |
There are a couple of irregular cases: | full fully; whole wholly; true truly; good well |
"y" am Ende des Wortes wird zu "i": | happy happily |
Die Endung -le wird ersetzt durch -ly: | subtle subtly |
Adjektiven, die auf -ic enden, wird ein -ally angehängt: | dynamic dynamically |
Es gibt ein paar unregelmäßige Fälle: | full fully; whole wholly; true truly; good well |
Adjektiv | Adverb |
This is the wrong place. | You pronounced that wrong. |
It's my daily routine. | He rings him daily. |
That's a very deep hole! | She went deep into the forest. |
Is this the right number? | She wants to make it right. |
We left the early morning. | I came here early. |
He took a long walk. | I waited very long. |
This was a fair game. | She played fair. |
Toby is late. | It's late in the evening. |
He's a far cousin. | He threw the ball far away. |
This exercise is hard. | He pushed him hard. |
This was a fast game. | She can run very fast. |
always, now, still, often, then, sometimes, today, up, soon, there, perhaps, down, …
How to choose between adjective and adverb
If you want to know whether you have to use an adjective or an adverb, you have to ask yourself whether the word you want to use is going to describe a noun our a verb.
- First example: Peter has a new car. He knows very well how to drive, and you feel comfortable sitting next to him in the car. "You are a good driver, Peter." Here, you determine what kind of a driver Peter is; "driver" is a noun. The adjective "good" specifies the noun "driver".
- Second example: Peter and you are driving through the city. You think: "You drive well, Peter." Here, you specify the way Peter drives. The adverb (of manner) "well" specifies the verb "to drive".
As always, there are exceptions to this rule:
Be careful with the verbs to be, to look, to seem, to taste, to feel! Even though these are verbs, you may never use adverbs to specify these verbs! You always have to use an adjective!
Wie man sich zwischen Adjektiv und Adverb entscheidet
Wenn du wissen willst, ob du ein Adjektiv oder ein Adverb brauchst, musst du dir die Frage stellen, ob das Wort, das du beschreiben willst, ein Nomen oder ein Verb ist.
- Erstes Beispiel: Peter hat ein neues Auto. Er kann sehr gut fahren, und du fühlst dich wohl, wenn du neben ihm auf dem Beifahrersitz sitzt. Peter is a good driver. Hier beschreibst du, was für eine Art von Fahrer Peter ist; "driver" ist ein Nomen. Das Adjektiv "good" beschreibt das Nomen "driver".
- Zweites Beispiel: Peter und du, ihr fahrt durch die Stadt. Du denkst: "Peter drives well." Hier beschreibst du die Art und Weise, auf die Peter fährt. Das Adverb (der Art und Weise) "well" beschreibt das Verb "to drive".
Wie immer gibt es Ausnahmen zu dieser Regel:
Sei vorsichtig mit den Verben to be, to look, to seem, to taste, to feel! Obwohl es sich hier um Verben handelt, darfst du niemals Adverbien benutzen, um diese Verben zu beschreiben! In diesen Sonderfällen benutzt man Adjektive!
You look nice. nicely
He is sad. sadly
This tastes good. well
The pipe smells bad. badly
This seems weird. weirdly