German Adverbial Phrases - Adverbial Forms of Adjectives

Adverbial Forms of Adjectives

Adverb formation is simpler in German than most other languages. An adverb is simply the uninflected form of the adjective (or participle). This holds for the positive and comparative forms. The superlative is formed with the preposition am and the ending -en, e.g. am schönsten "most beautifully".

schnell ("fast, quickly")

groß ("big, substantially")

fließend ("fluent, fluently")

schneller ("faster, more quickly")

fließender ("more fluent, more fluently")

am schönsten ("most beautiful, most beautifully")

The adverb can be used to describe actions, adjectives or other adverbs. Comparative and superlative forms are unusual in the last two situations.

Der Vogel fliegt schnell ("the bird flies fast")

Der Vogel fliegt am schnellsten ("the bird flies the fastest")

Ein schrecklich langsam wachsender Baum ("a terribly slow-growing tree") (literally, "a terribly slowly growing tree")

Ein schneller wachsender Baum ("a faster-growing tree")

In English, adverbs are usually distinguished from adjectives by the ending -ly. In German, they may be dinstinguished by their lack of declension, because adjectives in predicative position must be declined. Compare:

• ein schrecklich hoher Berg – an awfully high mountain.
• ein schrecklicher, hoher Berg - an awful, high mountain.