Adverbs (Adverbien)
German adverbs are refreshingly simple to form: most adjectives double as adverbs with no ending at all — Er läuft schnell (He runs fast). The real skill is word order: when several adverbials pile up in the middle of a clause, they follow the TeKaMoLo order — temporal (when) → kausal (why) → modal (how) → lokal (where).
Adjective = adverb (no ending)
Unlike English (quick → quickly), German uses the bare adjective as an adverb of manner. The same word schnell means both "fast" and "quickly"; only context and position tell them apart.
Das Auto ist schnell.
The car is fast.
Adjective (predicative).
Er fährt schnell.
He drives fast/quickly.
Same word, now an adverb — still no ending.
Sie singt schön.
She sings beautifully.
Kinds of adverbs
- Time (temporal): heute, morgen, gestern, jetzt, oft, immer, bald, früh.
- Manner (modal): gern, schnell, gut, leider, wahrscheinlich, zusammen.
- Place (local): hier, dort, oben, links, nach Hause, überall.
- Reason (causal): deshalb, deswegen, darum, trotzdem.
TeKaMoLo — the order of adverbials
When more than one adverbial sits in the middle field of a clause, arrange them temporal → kausal → modal → lokal. You rarely have all four at once, but the relative order holds: when before how, how before where.
Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin.
I am travelling to Berlin by train tomorrow.
morgen (Te) → mit dem Zug (Mo) → nach Berlin (Lo).
Er geht heute wegen der Prüfung nervös zur Schule.
He is going to school nervously today because of the exam.
heute (Te) → wegen der Prüfung (Ka) → nervös (Mo) → zur Schule (Lo).
Adverbs and the verb-second rule
An adverb can open a sentence for emphasis, but then the conjugated verb still stays in second position and the subject moves after it (inversion): *Heute gehe ich ins Kino — not Heute ich gehe*.
Morgen fahren wir nach Hamburg.
Tomorrow we drive to Hamburg.
Verb second, subject third.
Leider kann ich nicht kommen.
Unfortunately I can't come.
Examples
Sie spricht sehr gut Deutsch.
She speaks German very well.
Wir treffen uns oft hier.
We often meet here.
Ich komme gern mit.
I'd be glad to come along.
gern = the adverb for liking to do something.
Heute Abend bleibe ich zu Hause.
Tonight I'm staying home.
German lookup checklist
| Question | What to check |
|---|---|
| Meaning | What does the form contribute to the sentence? |
| Agreement | Does it match person, number, gender, case, or tense? |
| Position | Does placement change emphasis or grammatical role? |
Common Mistakes
- Adding an English-style "-ly": German has no adverb suffix — **Er singt ~~schönlich~~** → **schön**. The bare adjective is the adverb.
- Putting place before time: **~~Ich fahre nach Berlin morgen~~** → **Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin** (time before place).
- Forgetting inversion after a front adverb: **~~Heute ich gehe~~** → **Heute gehe ich** — the verb must stay in second position.
Lookup Tips
- Remember the mnemonic **TeKaMoLo**: temporal, kausal, modal, lokal — the default left-to-right order of adverbials in the middle field.
- If a sentence starts with an adverb, immediately check: is the conjugated verb still in slot two? If not, fix the inversion.
- When you learn a new adjective, you get its adverb for free — same form, no ending.
Frequently asked questions
Do German adverbs ever take endings?
As pure adverbs (modifying a verb), no — they stay uninflected. Endings appear only when the same word is used **attributively** before a noun (**ein schneller Wagen**), which is adjective declension, not adverb use.
What exactly is TeKaMoLo?
A memory aid for the order of adverbial phrases in the middle of a clause: **Te**mporal (when) → **Ka**usal (why) → **Mo**dal (how) → **Lo**kal (where). It is a strong default, not an unbreakable law — you can move an element to the front for emphasis.
How do I say "gladly / to like doing something"?
Use the adverb **gern(e)** with a normal verb: **Ich lese gern** (I like reading), **Er spielt gern Fußball**. Its comparative is **lieber** and superlative **am liebsten**.