The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

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BY July 8, 2020

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Adverbs are the words that give us information about how, how often, where, when, in what
way, or to what degree an action is taking place. They modify adjectives, verbs, or other
adverbs.

An adverb can express

among other circumstances. We’ll give you all the details about the different type in
this extremely useful article.

In German, we place adverbs close to the word they modify. A lot of adjectives can function
as adverbs as well.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

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Adverbs rarely change their form. The forms you see in this article are the ones you will use
in written and spoken language. By this, we mean they are not inflected, unlike adjectives.

For example:

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 (a short break)

(a short meeting)

(short, brief) is used as an adjective. It is inflected for gender. We add an -e

because Pause is a feminine noun and an -es because is a neuter noun. But:

(I must wait briefly.)

. –(Please look around briefly.)

Here, translates as , for a short while, and is used as an adverb of manner

(answering the question “how”). It does not change its form, unlike the adjective.
The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

We’ll begin with the and then list the most common
and useful ones by type.

1. auch (adv. of manner)

also, too

2. doch (conjunctive adverb)

but, still

3. so (adv. of manner)

so, thus, this way, such

4. wieder (adv. of frequency)

again, once more

5. dann (adv. of time)

then

6. eigentlich
(focusing adverb)

actually

7. da (adv. of place) -

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

there

8. oben above

up there

9. noch (adv. of time)

still, yet

10. nun (adv. of time)

now

11. also (conjunctive adverb)

so, therefore

12. heute (adv. of time)

today

13. nur (focusing adverb)

only

14. weit (adv. of time/focusing adverb)

far, widely

15. schon (adv. of time)

already

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

16. eben (adv. of time)

just now

17. mehr (adv. of quantity)

more

18. erst (focusing adv.)

first, only, not until

19. jetzt (adv. of time)

now

20. natürlich (adv. of manner)

naturally, of course

Sehr is an adverb too. Adverbs are used constantly to communicate deeper meaning.

21. immer (adv. of frequency) *

always

22. vielleicht (adv. of probability)

perhaps, maybe

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

23. sehr (adv. of degree)

very

24. dort (adv. of place)

there

*Strangely, this is the only adverb of frequency on the list of the 24 most common German
adverbs. Adverbs of frequency answer the question “how often”. Adverbs of time answer
“when”. Note “always” doesn’t answer “when.”

"Rechtzeitig“ (on time) is also an adverb, one of manner. It answers the question of "how“.

Our list continues with the most useful and common adverbs of place. This category is an
easy one to grasp. The words in it answer the question of "where“.

At the top of this section, obviously, are the German words for
.

25. links

left

26. rechts

right

27. unten

below

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

28. oben

above

The sentence would sound really general and "off‘ without the adverb.

29. drinnen (also drin)

inside

30. voran

before/in front

31. nirgends

nowhere

32. drauβen

outside

At no time could people be more divided on this statement than during the outbreak of
COVID-19.

33. irgendwo

somewhere

34. hier

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

here

35. überall

everywhere

36. drüben

over there

37. weg

away

38. nahe

near

Apart from answering the simple question of (how), there are several types of specific
adjectives that describe degree, time, frequency, and quantity. There are also other adverb
categories that add indispensable circumstantial facts regarding logical sequencing.

Adverbs of time answer the question of "when“ (wann). Now, let’s take a closer look at some
examples in this category. As you’ve probably noticed, English and German word order is
different.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

If you translate sentences literally, they won’t always translate well or even make sense. Take
into account what the language would lose if you didn’t use adverbs.

(Today I have to finish my work,

but my best friend said to me, “Maybe we can go to the movies tonight.”)

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

(I have to finish my work, but my best friend said to me, “We can go to the movies.”)

To some extent, the statement loses the meaning of possibility and time. We don’t
know when the person must do their work or when their best friend suggests or would
be available to go to the movies. Actually, the very probability of going to the movies
wouldn’t be expressed if we didn’t use “maybe.”

You’ll notice as your German improves that adverbs are quite important in everyday
speech, even in subtle ways.

Think about how critical these details can be when you’re making statements. It can
make a great difference knowing where, how, or when something has happened or is
going to happen. You can’t argue with that.

Adverbs of time are used to clarify when an action occurs. With these adverbs, you must pay
heightened attention to word order. They usually come at the beginning of the sentence.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

39. gerade

right now

40. gleich

in a minute

41. gestern

yesterday

42. ehemalig

former

43. morgen

tomorrow

44. eben

just now

45. kürzlich

recently

46. damals

back then

47. schließlich

finally

48. neulich

recently

49. sofort

Immediately, at once

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

50. zuletzt

in the end

51. zukünftig

In the future

52. seit

since

53. bisher

So far, previously

(I don’t have time

tomorrow. I still have a lot to do.)

Notice the difference in word order. “Morgen” comes at the beginning of the sentence.
“Tomorrow” goes at the end.

Sometimes, both will go at the end:

. – I was born in 1953. We

didn’t have cell phones back then.
– Get me my beer at once!

As you can see, German word order is a lot more rigid than English word order when it
comes to adverbs of time. This rule doesn’t extend to all adverbs, however. It’s the other way
around for adverbs of frequency. Have patience, we’ll get to those soon.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

–
WWII ended in 1945. The torture was finally over.

You’ll see stuff like this in divorce decrees quite a lot:

- We have been living separately since 2009.
– I had previously
no clue the virus could be so dangerous.

In German, the more general expression of time precedes the more specific one in sentences
with more than one such expression. In English, not always.

It was on a sunny afternoon in

summer.

Adverbs of frequency answer the question “how often” or “wie oft” in German. The most
common and useful ones are at the beginning of this section.

54. manchmal

sometimes

55. regelmäßig

regularly

56. oft

often

57. fast nie

almost never

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

58. häufig

frequently

59. nie

never

60. ab und zu

every once in a while

61. unregelmäßig

irregularly

62. niemals

never, ever

63. stets

always

64. ständig

constantly

65. selten

seldom

66. mehrmals

repeatedly

67. einmal

one time

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

Sie dachte ständig an ihr ungeborenes Baby.

She was constantly thinking of her soon-to-arrive baby.

Du hast Zeit für mich fast nie.

You almost never have time for me.

Ich bin dort oft.

I am often there.

Manchmal tut es mir leid, wenn ich an ihn denke.

I sometimes feel sorry when I think of him.

Du kannst nie pünktlich kommen.

You can never come on time.

Ihre Arbeit ist stets einwandfrei.

Her work is always impeccable. (You’ll see this in job references very often.)

Ich liebe meine Arbeit, aber ab und zu brauche ich eine Pause.

I love my job, but from time to time, I need a break.

Während eurer Dienstreise hat es ab und zu geregnet.

During your business trip, it rained from time to time.

Normalerweise trinkt sie Wein, aber ab und zu trinkt sie auch Wasser.

She normally drinks wine, but she also drinks water from time to time.

There is great flexibility of German word order in terms of adverbs of frequency. English is a
lot more rigid. If the adverb is a single word, it comes after the verb “to be” and modal verbs
and after the subject with other verbs.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

If the adverb is two or more words ( ), it goes at the end of the

sentence. is an exception.

[Link]

Little

69. gar nicht

not at all

70. viel

much

71. übermäßig

excessively

72. extrem

extremely

Normalerweise ist das vielleicht ein bisschen extrem.

Normally that might be a bit extreme.

Und was heißt überhaupt 'übermäßig'?! Man muss immer übertriebene Gefühle haben.

And what does 'excessively' really mean? One must always have exaggerated feelings.

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

Our last category includes adverbs that answer the question of “how”. How is something
done? It is a very broad and sometimes hard to grasp category.

73. allein(e)
*

alone

74. zusammen

together

75. dauernd

prolonged

76. lange

long

77. langsam**

slowly

78. sicherlich ***

certainly, surely
(Surely you have some time to discuss this issue.)

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

79. genau

exactly

80. wütend

exactly

81. gern(e)

gladly, to like doing something

82. kurze

short, briefly

83. leichtsinnig

recklessly

84. lieber

rather

85. hoffentlich

hopefully

86. eventuell

possibly

87. zufällig

per chance

*Imagine leaving the adverb out? “I can’t be any more.” It wouldn’t even make sense.

**As mentioned, some adverbs double as adjectives in German, but their forms don’t always

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change.

***German words with the suffix -lich are always adverbs, like English words ending in -ly.

88. leidenschaftlich

Passionately

89. wahnsinnig

insanely, very

90. überhaupt nicht

not at all

91. ein bisschen

a bit

92. fast

almost

93. enorm

enormously

94. beinahe

nearly

95. ziemlich

quite

96. total

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

totally

97. unglaublich

incredibly

98. wirklich

Really

99. ungewöhnlich

Unusually

100. Fabelhaft

dreamy

There he sits, insanely happy.

I am totally in love with you.

According to her coworkers, she is unbelievably cute and wonderful!

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The 100 Most Useful German Adverbs - My Daily German [Link]

That’s really nice of you.

That’s almost unbelievable.

In our last example, we have an adverb modifying another adverb. “Fast” describes
“unglaublich.”

Thank you for checking out our article on the . Please

share your thoughts in the comments section down below!

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