German Adverbial Phrases - Adverbs Ending in -erweise

Adverbs Ending in -erweise

Unlike English, the German language distinguishes adverbs which qualify verbs or adjectives from those which qualify whole sentences. For the latter case, many German adjectives from a special adverb form ending in -erweise, e.g. glücklicherweise "luckily", traurigerweise "sadly" (from Weise = way, manner).

In the following two example sentences, the adverb lustig "funnily" qualifies the verb, while lustigerweise "funnily" qualifies the whole sentence:

• Er hat lustig gesungen. – He sang funnily. (= He sang in a way that was funny.)
• Er hat lustigerweise gesungen. – Funnily, he sang. (= It was funny that he sang.)

As in the above example, English usually expresses the difference by placing the adverb which qualifies a sentence, in the beginning. In German, it can be placed in the beginning or elsewhere in the sentence.