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Grammar Notes - Adverbs |
Function of Adverbs
Adverbs determine Verbs, Adjectives and other Adverbs.
Look at these examples of common 'determiners' in use. Can you identify how each one is being used? (Two question marks indicate two Adverbs)
Check your findings with the Solution.
Category Quite, rather, the same as, much, well, mostly, to the right, always, fully Ganz, ziemlich, genauso, viel, gut, meist, rechts, immer, voll Verb/Adjective/Adverb Quite excellent! Ganz ausgezeichnet! Adjective I'm quite tired Ich bin ziemlich müde ? They both look the same Beide sehen genauso aus Verb The price is much lower Der Preis ist viel niedriger ? Both danced really well Beide haben wirklich gut getanzt ? ? I mostly come here with friends Ich komme meist mit Freunden hierher ? ? Keep to the right Halten Sie sich rechts ? Both colleagues were always fully occupied Beide Kollegen waren immer voll besetzt ? ?
Category Quite, rather, the same as, much, well, mostly, to the right, always, fully Ganz, ziemlich, genauso, viel, gut, meist, rechts, immer, voll Verb/Adjective/Adverb Quite excellent! Ganz ausgezeichnet! Adjective I'm quite tired Ich bin ziemlich müde Adjective They both look the same Beide sehen genauso aus Verb The price is much lower Der Preis ist viel niedriger Adjective Both danced really well Beide haben wirklich gut /getanzt Adverb/Verb I mostly come here with friends Ich komme meist mit Freunden hierher Verb Keep to the right Halten Sie sich rechts Verb Both colleagues were always fully occupied Beide Kollegen waren immer voll besetzt Verb/Adjective
Word order
Adverbs can be a word or a phrase.
Where you have two or more Adverbs or Adverbial phrases in a sentence, they follow a strict word order rule.
Time, Manner, Place
I've been working in Human Resources for four years Ich arbeite seit vier Jahren im Personalbüro We'll go on a tour of the premises next Wir machen gleich einen Rundgang durch die Firma I'm going to the English Garden tomorrow Ich gehe morgen in den Englischen Garten I'm mostly out and about then with friends Da bin ich meistens mit Freunden unterwegs I sat home the whole evening! Den ganzen Abend bin ich zu Hause gesessen!
That is the right order:
Time, Manner, Place
I've been working in Human Resources for four years Ich arbeite seit vier Jahren (Time) im Personalbüro (Place) We'll go on a tour of the premises next Wir machen gleich (Time) einen Rundgang durch die Firma (Place) I'm going to the English Garden tomorrow Ich gehe morgen (Time) in den Englischen Garten (Place) I'm out and about then with friends Da (Time) bin ich mit Freunden (Manner) unterwegs (Place) I sat home the whole evening! Den ganzen Abend (Time) bin ich zu Hause (Place) gesessen!
Comparison of Adverbs
- As a rule, German forms the Comparative of the Adverb with er (or r if this makes pronunciation easier):
- English uses more and most with words of more than two syllables (and sometimes with words of two syllables):
- As you would expect, 'strong' Adverbs have their own form, for example gut becomes besser and am besten and gern becomes lieber and am liebsten.
I liked the first scarf better Der erste Schal war mir schon lieber
Test yourself!
In respect of the above sections, try the following:
- Study the explanations and examples.
- Print out the table for the grammar point you are working on and fold it into 2 vertically. You will then be able to check your recall of the English and German examples by folding and unfolding the paper.
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