Hello everyone,
and welcome to another episode of Grammar Jargon, where we explain one of these cryptic nerdy terms that teachers and textbooks use, because for some strange reason they think it’s … helpful.
Well… IT’S NOT! Stop it!! Stop feeding us stupid, yawn-inducing Latin vocabulary that half the class has no idea what it means, and that no one can remember because it so complicated, and that sucks out all the fun. You hear me? IT SUCKS IT OUT! THE FUN. ALL OF I.. oh… I uh… I think I’m getting a little worked up …. must … breathe.. phaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…
all right. I’m sorry. I hate jargon. I really do.
But it’s there, we have to cope. And there are some terms like verb or noun or subject that are so basic, well established and hard to replace that everyone should know them. Today we’ll look at one of those terms. Today, we’ll try to find out, once and for all, just what are
Adverbs
We’ll start with a look at the general function, then we’ll talk about how to spot adverbs, and then we’ll take some time to look at adverbs in German and if there’s anything specific that we need to know.
It’s a but nerdy, but if you enjoy that, you’ll learn a lot.
So if you’re ready, let’s jump right in.
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Hallo Emanuel! Es gibt im Artikel einen Tippfehler:
“The tree? Yeah I saw that that.”
Stimmt, danke dir!
Just so you know, there is a jarringly rude comment below about you and your site.
What ever happened to “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Ha yeah, I think that was the rudest I ever got. And it’s from 8 years ago, so that’s pretty good actually, considering this is online and anyone can comment.
I think I left it up because I didn’t want to “censor” something just because it’s negative.
But there is negative, and there is obnoxious and shouldn’t be given audience. Having read hundreds of comments written on this site, I know you are very much appreciated. In fact, I think you are quite ingenious on the way you can make the totally incomprehensible, understandable.
I would disagree with you about “I turn my charm on” and say that “on” describes the state of my charm (after my action) and is thus an adjective. The structure is the same as “I paint my car blue” and blue is definitely an adjective. The adverb would be bluely.
Very good point!!
Your logic makes total sense, for this example.
But in others, it’s not so convincing.
I think, generally, English grammar regards these phrasal verbs as a verb+adverb.
And the small words themselves might also be considered an adverb particle.
I don’t think out is considered an adjective here, mainly because it’s not “comparable”.
But yeah… this is a great example for how all these definitions are essentially just attempts to organize a multifaceted system and that there will always be instances and configurations that don’t really fit with the lines we draw :)
Are there rules as to placement of the adverbs? I got this sentence wrong on Duolingo “Do you know when the band is playing in Egypt again?”Translation:Weißt du, wann die Band wieder in Ägypten spielt?
I put the “wieder” in front of spielt.
There is a big overlap between this kind of adverb placement and the position of “nicht”.
Check out my two part article on that… you can apply the core ideas in there to adverbs as well.
Thanks, I will definitely read that.
When I read unsullied, I was like Dovoghedhi, (Game of Thrones). Anyone else? :D
Hhahahaha… I’m just gonna go ahead and claim that that was on purpose. I mean, mark the example coming after with the very beautiful woman.
(seriously, I don’t think it was on purpose but it made me smile now that you mentioned it)
can adverbs be sometimes ignored in german language? for example in the sentence “Die Außerirdischen können nicht nur durch die Zeit, sondern auch durch Dimensionen reisen.” Can the “durch” in the second clause be omitted and carried over implicitly from the first so that it makes this sentence?“Die Außerirdischen können nicht nur durch die Zeit, sondern auch Dimensionen reisen.”
Technically yes, but I wouldn’t do it in this example. The “sondern auch” ruins the connection a little and doesn’t make it flow intuitively.
Also, “Zeit” is singular and “Dimensionen” is plural. That also ruins the connection.
– … wir reisen durch die Zeit und den Raum…
That would be fine, for example, and not skipping it sounds a bit redundant.
Ps.: “durch” is a preposition here, not an adverb, actually :)
Bro
I have spent the last 5 days or more trying to undertand the german adverbs (my mother tongue is spanish for that matter). I have checked far ans wide. I even have a quote from Eisenberg saying that the german adverbs are the most darkest challenge that the german language has to offer.
Nevertheless any author, big or small convinced me to use their way to structure and understand this subject, until you.
Meta-adverbs will be official, you have a new disciple now.
I’ll be back to this page from time to time.
Please let me know where do I left my 5 stars, like and everything else
Yeay, thanks a lot for this great feedback :). I’m really happy to hear that my take on the matter is helpful to some people!!
Vielen Danke for this article! I really have problems sometimes to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs.. and also to get them into the right position and a sentence. But you really explained it really well….. Just a suggestion.. mabye you could add some more graphics as on https://language-easy.org/german/grammar/adverbs/ . So, thanks again and greetings!
Hey, consider the following sentence,
Ergänzed Sie in der Tabelle rechts
is rechts here an adverb?
Hey man, please answer my question above.
Hi, sorry… I forgot this comment!! Yes, it is a locational adverb. Why are you asking?
Thanks, no problem. But isn’t “rechts” describing “Tabelle” here so shouldn’t it be adjective?
No, it’s describing the entire locational info “in der Tabelle” a bit closer. It doesn’t mean “in the right table”. Then, it would be an adjective.
It means “in the table on the right”.
Adverb is that which describes a verb. I can’t find “rechts” here describing “Ergänzen” anyway. Rather it’s describing “Tabelle”. Consider the following,
-Ergänzen Sie in der Tabelle
– welche(or “welcher”?) Tabelle?
-rechte Tabelle
than again that begs the question why isn’t “rechts” declined.
“rechts” is not describing tabelle. It is describing “in die Tabelle” which is a prepositional phrase. “rechts” is a locational adverb here. Adverbs are not limited to describing verbs.
If it were “rechte Tabelle” then yes, it is an adjective. But that’s not the case in the sentence.
Thanks, things just got a bit complicated. Adverbs describes more than verbs. I know it describes adjectives and adverbs too in english & I guess it does the same in german. Can u refer me some material to read further to clear up the concept?
Well, look up “adverbs of place/time” on Google :)
It’s not specific to German adverbs but true for adverbs in general.
Ich bin sehr dumm. Du hast mich vor den Kisten verloren.
Du bist nicht dumm :). It’s a pretty “nerdy” article and maybe it’s just not the right time.
Thank you very much for the very helpful post
Thanks for the feedback! Glad it made sense to you!
Phrasal verbs versus prefix verbs… did I understand the hint correctly that there is a post on this somewhere?
No, not yet :). But it would be an interesting topic. The difference is really not that big. Basically, it’s just a spelling convention. That’s especially visible in American English word order
– I turn the TV on.
-Ich mache den Fernseher an.
These two sentences are the exact same thing. Well, except one uses “turn” and the other “machen”.
The English infinitive is “to turn on” but using the German paradigm it would be “to onturn” – “anmachen”.
What is the name of this post and where can it be found on your website? I can only find it be directly searching in google, just wondering if I’m missing something…
Oh, I just checked and you’re totally right. It’s not linked anywhere. I used to have a section called “grammar jargon” but then I included that to the course and I forgot this post. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll add it soon.
Meanwhile (in case you want to read it again) you can just type in “adverb” in the search function in the top menu bar… this post is the first result.
I’ll have to come back and read this article again tomorrow. Brain explosion.
Yeah, this is probably one of the nerdiest and most intense posts I’ve done. I tried to analyze what it is that ALL adverbs have in common and make it accessible also for those who don’t have a linguistic background.
Wait, I think actually the one about conjunctions in the nerdiest one :). And it’s not linked anywhere either. Here it is, in case you are interested in some more
https://yourdailygerman.com/2013/08/30/what-are-subordinating-conjunctions/
Thank you soooo much for your blog. It is immensely helpful and very entertaining to boot. I am a native English speaker learning German and struggle to put those pesky adverbs in their place. They just dance around my sentences sticking their tongues out and making rude gestures. Anyway, I was wondering if you had any tips for the proper word order of German adverbs within a sentence? I often seem to put them in the wrong spot. Thanks again!!
That completely depends on what adverb we’re looking at. Since they can function as boxes, they can be pretty much anywhere. A time adverb can be found anywhere where you could find a more elaborate time phrase too for instance. Same for place and manner and all that. So it’s really impossible to tell on a general level.
Ein paar Trickfragen.
Ist “das Drum und Dran” ein Wort? Ist “das zu Hause” ein Wort?
Ist “hin und hergehen” ein Verb mit 2 Präfixen oder 2 Verben?
Also… “das Zuhause” ist ein Nomen. Da herrst glaub ich weitestgehend konsens :).
“Hin- und hergehen” sind zwei Präfixe also auch zwei Verben. Es sollte mit Bindestrich geschrieben werden da im ersten Teil sonst das Verb fehlt
– …, dass ich hin und hergehe…. hin-WAS? Fliege?
Für “Drum und Dran”… keine Ahnung. Ich würde mal sagen, dass es offiziell zwei Substantive sind… “das Drum” und “das Dran”. Das würde zumindest Sinn machen.
“Also… “das Zuhause” ist ein Nomen. Da herrst glaub ich weitestgehend konsens :).”
Ich hab mehrmals die getrennte Version – “das zu Hause” – gesehen. Das bedeutet vermutlich, dass ein Substantiv aus 2 Wörtern bestehen kann…
“Für “Drum und Dran”… keine Ahnung. Ich würde mal sagen, dass es offiziell zwei Substantive sind… “das Drum” und “das Dran”. Das würde zumindest Sinn machen.”
Aber dann wäre es auch das Drum und das Dran oder…
Duden sagt zumindest, es sei ein Substantiv.
“Drum und Dran, das
Wortart: Substantiv, Neutrum”
Also, für “Drum und Dran” echt keine Ahnung, aber “das zu Hause” ist einfach nur falsch. Was nicht heißt, dass keiner es macht ;)
Also, wenn die Leute so schreiben, wieso ist es falsch? Du hast doch gesagt, dass die Sprache den Leuten gehört, und nicht dem Duden usw. :P
Hehe stimmt, das hab’ ich gesagt. Ich hab’ jetzt mal nachgeguckt und war ERSCHÜTTERT zu sehen, dass “mein zu Hause” immerhin halb so häufig ist wie “mein Zuhause”.
Das hätte ich nicht gedacht. Ich bin trotzdem pro-Zuhause, da es sich wie eine Sache anfühlt… nicht wie ein Konzept, für das man mehrere Wörter braucht.
Ich habe einmal einen Kompaktkurs Deutsch-C1 bei Goethe-Institut in Deutschland besucht, und genau da habe ich erfahren, dass es 2 Varianten gibt: im Text stand “das zu Hause”, “das Zuhause” wurde als die zweite Variante angegeben. Also, wenn es bei GI geht, ist es meiner Meinung nach kein Fehler, auch wenn die getrennt geschriebene Variante als Standard gilt.
Ach, Adverbien…
Ne Frage über “herüber”.
Ich ging über die Strasse herüber.
Ich ging über die Strasse.
So wie ich es sehe: Ersteres ist eher vollendet, während es sich bei Letzterem auch um einen Vorgang gehen kann. Ich weiß, dass es höchstwahrscheinlcih nicht stimmt, aber diese sind meine unwillkürlichen Assoziationen.
Gibts einen Unterschied?
Bei “herüber” kriege ich immer Probleme. Könntest du ein paar Beispiele zum Gebrauch anführen?
Also ohne “herüber” ist definitv besser. Das erste klingt falsch. Tut mir leid :)
Ich würde “herüber” glaube ich nie mit bereits “gerichteten” Verben verwenden.
Es heißt eigentlich, “von gegenüber nach hier”…
– Er ruft von der anderen Strassenseite herüber.
– Komm herüber zu mir.
Moment mal. Ist “zu mir” nicht schon eine Richtung? Ja, das stimmt, aber da fehlt der Aspekt von “über etwas” … also muss ich wohl sagen, dass ich “herüber” nicht verwenden würde, wenn “über” schon drin ist. Aber da gibt’s garantiert Ausnahmen zu.
Es ist gut zu wissen. Aber wird es bei “komm zu mir” nicht schon angenommen, dass man von gegenüber nach hier kommt? Ich meine, ist “über” hier nicht überflussig?
Ne, ich kann ja von überall her zu dir kommen.
– Komm herüber/herunter/herauf/zurück/ nach vorn/ … zu mir.
Impliziert “herüber”, dass sich der Sprecher und der Zuhörer, voneinander entfernt, auf ungefähr derselben Ebene befinden?
Hmmm.. tendenziell ja, wobei es einen Höhenunterschied geben kann solange der “über”-Teil nur relevanter ist. Eine Person im 4 Stock eines Hauses könnte einer Person im 1. Stock des gegenüber gelegenen Hauses auch “Komm mal rüber sagen” :)
“Es gibt leckeres Eis in diesem neuen Cafe. Willst du rübergehen?” – geht das?
Wenn das Café über die Strasse ist, dann ja. Aber nicht so wie in Englisch.
I have always appreciated your site for providing such knowledgeable posts on German language. These posts are always useful for people learning German language.
Very helpful as usuel funny comparison betwween English and German Adverbs . Till the next post, Aufwiedersehen!
Those adverbs! Seriously, I only get them right by accident when speaking English (I am German). Thanks for this awesome explanation. It sparked up my day.
Das freut mich :).