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10.6.1.6: Wie? Wo? Wohin? Woher?

  • Page ID
    108511
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    Adverbs:Das Adverb - Wie? Wo? Wohin? Woher?

    Adverbs provide information about how, where, when, to what degree, or how often an action takes place. They modify verbs or adjectives or other adverbs. An adverb expresses things like time, frequency, manner, place, quantity, or intensity. Adverbs are placed close to the word they modify (the verb, the adjective or the other adverb). Many adjectives can also function as adverbs in German.

    With few exceptions, adverbs don't change their appearance. The form you see in the list below is the form you use in a sentence. Most of them look like adjectives without the endings:

    Tief im Wald: Hänsel und Gretel haben sich gerade verlaufen ...

    Hänsel Gretel, ich würde sehr gerne wieder zurück nach Hause gehen! Gretel, I'd really like to go home again!
    Gretel Ja, ich auch. Weißt du zufällig wie wir das schaffen können? Yes, me too. Do you know by chance how we can manage that?
    Hänsel Keine Ahnung! Es ist überall viel zu dunkel und ich sehe noch nicht mal den kleinsten Funken! No clue! It's too dark everywhere, and I can't see even the tiniest sparkle anywhere!

    adv_02_01_darkness.gif

    * Although 'gern' is translated into English with a verbal phrase, in German it is an adverb, describing a verb (here: gehen). It is one of the most common adverbs used in German.

    Adverbs of manner (descriptive adverbs): Wie?

    gern(e) => gladly   eventuell => possibly
    lieber => rather   hoffentlich => hopefully
    fleißig => diligently   leider => unfortunately
    langsam => slowly   glücklicherweise => luckily
    vielleicht => maybe   zufällig => per chance
    allein(e) => alone   auswendig => by heart
    sicherlich => certainly   natürlich => naturally
    zögerlich => relunctantly   freiwillig => voluntarily
    zusammen => together   gemeinsam => together
    wütend => angrily   leichtsinnig => recklessly
    bereitwillig => readily   widerwillig => stubbornly

    Hänsel Ok, wir müssen zusammen bleiben, und hoffentlich finden wir etwas, wenn wir immer geradeaus gehen. OK, we have to stay together and hopefully we'll find something when we keep going straight.
    Gretel Wie doof. Wir hätten den Weg auswendig lernen sollen! So stupid. We should've learned the road home by heart!
    Hänsel Wer zum Teufel hätte denken können, dass unser Vater uns so bereitwillig für diese neue Frau austauscht?!? Diese ... diese ... Who would have thought that our father would trade us so readily for this new woman?!? This ... this ...

    Adverbs of place: Wo?

    hier => here   anderswo => elsewhere
    da => there   nirgendwo => nowhere
    dort => over there   irgendwo => somewhere
    da drüben => over there   überall => everywhere
    vorne/hinten => in front/behind   innen/außen => inside/outside
    draußen => outdoors   drinnen => indoors
    oben/unten => above/below   links/rechts => left/right

    Gretel Hey, Brüderchen, guck mal da hin! Da drüben! Siehst du das kleine Licht? Hey, Brother dearest, look! Over there! Do you see the little light?
    Hänsel Da links? Tja, mit unserem Glück ist das ein Zug. Over there on the left? Yeah, with our luck that's a train.
    Gretel Nein, rechts, sei doch nicht so pessimistisch! Und sowieso kann es kein Zug sein - sie wurden immer noch nicht erfunden! No, on the right, don't be so pessimistic! And anyway, it can't be a train - they hadn't been invented yet!

    Adverbs of direction: Wohin? (where to?)   Woher? (where from?)

    The difference between wohin and woher is the relative direction of movement from the standpoint of the speaker. Wohin suggests movement by the speaker in a direction away from himself/herself; woher, in contrast, suggests movement by somebody else towards / in the direction of the speaker.

    dahin => (going) there   daher => (coming from) there
    dorthin => (going) there   von oben => from above
    nach oben => (going) up   von vorne => from the front/beginning
    nach unten => (going) down   von hinten => from behind
    nach links => (going) left   von links => from the left
    nach rechts => (going) right   von rechts => from the right

    Hänsel Also, gehen wir dorthin, und schauen uns genauer an, was da los ist. So, let's go over there, and let's take a closer look what's going on.
    Gretel Wow, ein Häuschen! Aus Lebkuchen! Mensch, habe ich Hunger! Ich klettere sofort nach oben aufs Dach und esse alles auf! Wow, a little house! From gingerbread! Man, am I ever hungry! I'm going to climb up onto the roof right away and will eat the whole thing!
    die alte Hexe Jawohl! Jetzt höre ich schon das Kauen von oben. Jetzt habe ich die zwei kleinen Lümmel! Yessss! I can already hear the munching from above. Now I have the two little twerps!

    adv_02_02_munching-twerps.gif

    Word order with adverbs

    As a general rule, German adverbs appear in this sequence: time-manner-place, although there are some infrequent exceptions to this rule (especially in colloquial speech).

    die alte Hexe Ich werde sofort höchst freundlich nach draußen gehen und werde die Kinder herzlichst zu mir einladen. Hah! I will go outside right away as friendly as possible, and I will most cordially invite the children to me. Heh!

    This page titled 10.6.1.6: Wie? Wo? Wohin? Woher? is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Zsuzsanna Abrams and co-workers (Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning) .

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