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What are German Adverbs? (Adverbien)
Difference between German Adverbs (Adverbien) and Adjectives (Adjektive)
Adjectives:
- Adjectives decribe nouns more precisely.
- They give further information about a thing or a person.
- If you use them before a noun, you must decline them according to the Adjective declension (Adjektivdeklination).
Adverbs:
- Adverbs describe circumstances and are related to a verb, NOT to a noun.
- They are used to describe how, when, why or where something happens.
- Adverbs are unchangeable and can't be declined ( = no change of endings!).
Examples
- „Gestern war ich bei einem tollen Konzert.” // Yesterday, I was at a great concert.
- „Ich habe ganz vorn gestanden.“ // I was right in the front.
- „Ich habe die Band sehr gut sehen können.“ // I could see the band very well.
- „Deshalb konnte ich auch viele geniale Fotos machen.“ // That’s why I could shoot so many great photos.
- „Das Einzige, was mir nicht gefallen hat, war, dass ich kaum Platz hatte. Ich konnte kaum atmen. // The only thing I really disliked was that I had almost no space. I could barely breathe.
Gestern, blue = Adverbs (Adverbien)
ganz, brown = Particles (Partikel) (special type of adverb)
tollen, black = Adjective (Adjektive)
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In the following section you will get a short summary of all the topics related to adverbs. If you want more detailed explanations, watch the linked video and/or watch the entire lesson.
Overview: German Adverbs
Lokale Adverbien
Locative adverbs tell you something about locations.
They go with the questions: Wo? (Where?), Wohin? (Where to?), Woher? (From Where?)
Example: „Wo ist dein Vater?“ – „Unten!“
To the Lesson: Lokale Adverbien
Temporale Adverbien
Temporal adverbs tell you things related to time - the point in time, time period, order, repetition, frequency, etc. of something happening.
They are connected to the questions: Wann?, Ab wann?, Wie lange?, Wie oft?, Bis wann?, Seit wann?
Example: „Ich gehe morgen einkaufen.“
To the Lesson: Temporale Adverbien
„Hin oder Her?“
The adverb "hin" describes movement away from the speaker.
The adverb "her" describes movement towards the speaker.
Example: „Komm bitte her! Ich muss mit dir reden.“
To the Lesson: Lokale Adverbien „hin oder her?“
Konjunktionaladverbien
Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs that combine sentences, clauses, words, and phrases with each other.
The difference between conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs: conjunctive adverbs are grammatically a part of the sentence while conjunctions are not.
Example: „Anna kommt später, außerdem kommt Jan auch später.“
To the Lesson: Konjunktionaladverbien
Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Adverbien
More lessons about Adverbs include are:
- Lokale Adverbien (Local Adverbs)
- Temporale Adverbien (Temporal Adverbs)
- "hin oder her?" (Local Adverbs "hin" & "her")
- Konjunktional Adverbien (Conjunctive Adverbs)
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
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