Adverb - Adverbs in Specific Languages

Adverbs in Specific Languages

Listed below are some of the principles for formation and use of adverbs in certain languages. For more information, see the articles on individual languages and their grammars.

• In English adverbs can be formed from most adjectives with the ending -ly, and there are also many independent adverbs. For detailed information, see English grammar: Adverbs.
• In Dutch adverbs have the basic form of their corresponding adjectives and are not inflected (except for comparison in which case they are inflected like adjectives, too).
• In German the term Adverb is differently defined than in the English language. German adverbs form a group of not inflectable words (except for comparison in which in rare cases some are inflected like adjectives, too). An English adverb, which is derived from an adjective, is arranged in the German language under the adjectives with adverbial use in the sentence. The others are also called adverbs in the German language.
• In Scandinavian languages, adverbs are typically derived from adjectives by adding the suffix '-t', which makes it identical to the adjective's neuter form. Scandinavian adjectives, like English ones, are inflected in terms of comparison by adding '-ere'/'-are' (comparative) or '-est'/'-ast' (superlative). In inflected forms of adjectives the '-t' is absent. Periphrastic comparison is also possible.
• In Romance languages many adverbs are formed from adjectives (often the feminine form) by adding '-mente' (Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Italian) or '-ment' (French, Catalan) (from Latin mens, mentis: mind, intelligence). Other adverbs are single forms which are invariable.
• In the Romanian language, the vast majority of adverbs are simply the masculine singular form of the corresponding adjective – one notable exception being bine ("well") / bun ("good"). However, there are some Romanian adverbs that are built from certain masculine singular nouns using the suffix "-eşte", such as the following ones: băieţ-eşte (boyishly), tiner-eşte (youthfully), bărbăt-eşte (manly), frăţ-eşte (brotherly), etc.
• Interlingua also forms adverbs by adding '-mente' to the adjective. If an adjective ends in c, the adverbial ending is '-amente'. A few short, invariable adverbs, such as ben, "well", and mal, "badly", are available and widely used.
• In Esperanto, adverbs are not formed from adjectives but are made by adding '-e' directly to the word root. Thus, from bon are derived bone, "well", and 'bona', 'good'. See also: special Esperanto adverbs.
• In Hungarian adverbs are formed from adjectives of any degree through the suffixes -ul/ül and -an/en depending on the adjective. E.g. szép (beautiful) -> szépen (beautifully) or the comparative szebb (more beautiful) -> szebben (more beautifully)
• Modern Standard Arabic forms adverbs by adding the indefinite accusative ending '-an' to the root. For example, kathiir-, "many", becomes kathiiran "much". However, Arabic often avoids adverbs by using a cognate accusative plus an adjective.
• Austronesian languages appear to form comparative adverbs by repeating the root (as in WikiWiki), similarly to the plural noun.
• Japanese forms adverbs from verbal adjectives by adding /ku/ (く) to the stem (e.g. haya- "rapid" hayai "quick/early", hayakatta "was quick", hayaku "quickly") and from nominal adjectives by placing /ni/ (に) after the adjective instead of the copula /na/ (な) or /no/ (の) (e.g. rippa "splendid", rippa ni "splendidly"). These derivations are quite productive but there are a few adjectives from which adverbs may not be derived.
• In Gaelic, an adverbial form is made by preceding the adjective with the preposition go (Irish) or gu (Scottish Gaelic), meaning 'until'.
• In Modern Greek, an adverb is most commonly made by adding the endings <-α> and/or <-ως> to the root of an adjective. Often, the adverbs formed from a common root using each of these endings have slightly different meanings. So, <τέλειος> (, meaning "perfect" and "complete") yields <τέλεια> (, "perfectly") and <τελείως> (, "completely"). Not all adjectives can be transformed into adverbs by using both endings. <Γρήγορος> (, "rapid") becomes <γρήγορα> (, "rapidly"), but not normally *<γρηγόρως> (*). When the <-ως> ending is used to transform an adjective whose tonal accent is on the third syllable from the end, such as <επίσημος> (, "official"), the corresponding adjective is accented on the second syllable from the end; compare <επίσημα> () and <επισήμως> (), which both mean "officially". There are also other endings with particular and restricted use as <-ί>, <-εί>, <-ιστί>, etc. For example, <ατιμωρητί> (, "with impunity") and <ασυζητητί> (, "indisputably"); <αυτολεξεί> ( "word for word") and <αυτοστιγμεί> (, "in no time"); <αγγλιστί> and <παπαγαλιστί> (, "by rote"); etc.
• In Latvian, an adverb is formed from an adjective, by changing the masculine or feminine adjective endings -s and -a to -i. "Labs", meaning "good", becomes "labi" for "well". Latvian adverbs have a particular use in expressions meaning "to speak" or "to understand" a language. Rather than use the noun meaning "Latvian/English/Russian", the adverb formed form these words is used. "Es runāju latviski/angliski/krieviski" means "I speak Latvian/English/Russian", or very literally "I speak Latvianly/Englishly/Russianly". When a noun is required, the expression used means literally "language of the Latvians/English/Russians", "latviešu/angļu/krievu valoda".
• In Ukrainian, and analogously in Russian and some other Slavic languages, an adverb is formed by removing the adjectival suffices "-ий" "-а" or "-е" from an adjective, and replacing them with the adverbial "-о". For example, "швидкий", "гарна", and "смачне" (fast, nice, tasty) become "швидко", "гарно", and "смачно" (quickly, nicely, tastefully). As well, note that adverbs are mostly placed before the verbs they modify: "Добрий син гарно співає." (A good son sings nicely/well). Although, there is no specific word order in East Slavic languages.
• In Korean, adverbs are formed by replacing 다 of the dictionary form of a verb with 게. So, 쉽다 (easy) becomes 쉽게 (easily).
• In Turkish, the same word usually serves as adjective and adverb: iyi bir kız ("a good girl"), iyi anlamak ("to understand well).
• In Chinese, adverbs end in the word "地（的）", the English equivalent of "-ly".