German Adverbs: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners

So, you’ve decided to tackle German adverbs—good choice. These little words are everywhere, slipping into sentences to explain when, where, how, and to what extent things happen. Want to say you really love chocolate? Or that you’ll finally hit the gym tomorrow? Adverbs make it happen.

In this guide, we’ll break down the basics, throw in a handy cheat sheet, and even test your skills with some interactive exercises. Let’s make German adverbs your new best friends.

Ready? Los geht’s! (Let’s go!)

What Are Adverbs & Why Should You Care?

Before we jump in, let’s clear up what adverbs actually are:

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by telling us how, when, where, or why something happens.

The cool thing about German adverbs? Unlike those pesky adjectives with all their endings, adverbs don’t change their form! That’s right – no matter what gender, case, or number (singular/plural) you’re dealing with, adverbs stay exactly the same. Phew!

Compare these:

Adjective (changes):

Der schnelle Hund gewinnt das Rennen.
(The fast dog wins the race.)

Die schnellen Sportler bekommen Medaillen.
(The fast athletes athletes receive medals.)

Adverb (doesn’t change):

Der Hund läuft schnell.
(The dog runs quickly.)

Die Sportler laufen schnell.
(The athletes run quickly.)

So, unlike in English where adverbs are always marked with the ending “-ly”, in German adverbs have no endings at all, regardless of context.

Types of German Adverbs: The Magnificent Seven

1️⃣ Adverbs of Manner (Wie?) – How something happens

These tell us how an action is performed:

• schnell (quickly) → Er läuft schnell.
• langsam (slowly) → Die Schildkröte bewegt sich langsam.
• gern/gerne (gladly/with pleasure) → Ich esse gern Pizza.
• gut (well) → Sie singt gut.

In German we call these Modaladverbien.

Pro Tip: Gern is probably the most useful manner adverb in German! It’s how you express liking to do something: Ich trinke gern Kaffee = I like drinking coffee.

2️⃣ Adverbs of Time (Wann?) – When something happens

These tell us when something happens:

• heute (today) → Wir bleiben heute zu Hause.
• jetzt (now) → Ich muss jetzt gehen.
• morgen (tomorrow) → Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin.
• später (later) → Wir können später darüber sprechen.

In German we call these Temporaladverbien.

3️⃣ Adverbs of Place (Wo?) – Where something happens

These tell us where things are happening:

• hier (here) → Komm hierher!
• dort/da (there) → Mein Freund wohnt dort.
• oben (up/upstairs) → Die Katze sitzt oben auf dem Dach.
• draußen (outside) → Die Kinder spielen draußen.

In German we call these Lokaladverbien.

4️⃣ Adverbs of Frequency (Wie oft?) – How often something happens

These tell us how frequently something occurs:

• immer (always) → Er kommt immer zu spät.
• oft (often) → Wir gehen oft ins Kino.
• manchmal (sometimes) → Manchmal lese ich bis spät in die Nacht.
• nie/niemals (never) → Ich trinke nie Kaffee.
• selten (rarely) → Sie geht selten ins Fitnessstudio.

These are a subset of Temporaladverbien.

5️⃣ Adverbs of Degree (Wie sehr?) – To what extent

These express intensity or degree:

• sehr (very) → Sie findet das Buch sehr interessant.
• zu (too) → Es regnet zu viel im November.
• ziemlich (quite/fairly) → Er spielt ziemlich gut Gitarre.
• besonders (especially) → Du sprichst besonders gut Deutsch.
• kaum (hardly/barely) → Ich kann ihn kaum hören.

These also belong to the group of Modaladverbien.

6️⃣ Adverbs of Reason (Warum?) – Why something happens

These explain why something happens:

• deshalb (therefore) → Es regnet. Ich bleibe deshalb zu Hause.
• darum (that’s why) → Ich bin krank. Darum komme ich nicht.
• deswegen (because of that) → Es ist spät. Deswegen müssen wir gehen.

In German we call these Kausaladverbien.

7️⃣ Modal Particles – The “Flavor” Words

These tiny words add emotion and nuance to German speech:

• doch (contrary to what was thought) → Komm doch mit! (Do come along!)
• mal (softening a command) → Schau mal! (Take a look!)
• eben/halt (simply/just) → Das ist eben/halt so. (That’s just how it is.)
• ja (as you know) → Er ist ja Arzt. (He’s a doctor, as you know.)

⭐ Bonus Knowledge: These modal particles are super common in spoken German and will make you sound much more native!

Note: While these technically belong to the class of (modal) adverbs, their position in a sentence is often much more flexible. See my article on modal particles for a more in-depth take on these. For the rest of this article we will focus on the four main categories of: Temporal, Kausal, Modal and Lokal.

Adverbs vs. Adjectives: The Eternal Confusion

We’ve already established that unlike adjectives adverbs don’t take endings in German, and that there are a bunch of different categories. Adjectives generally describe nouns, whereas adverbs modify verbs. (hence the “ad-verb”). So how about positioning?

Now, let’s look into their positioning in more detail.

Where Do I Put These Adverbs? The TeKaMoLo Rule to the Rescue!

In German, word order matters a lot. If you just have one adverb, you’re generally safe to put it after the verb. For multiple adverbs, remember this golden rule:

TeKaMoLo: Temporal → Kausal → Modal → Lokal

This means:

1. Time (when?)
2. Cause (why?)
3. Manner (how?)
4. Place (where?)

Let’s see it in action:

Ich fahre morgen wegen des schönen Wetters gerne nach München.
(I’m happily going to Munich tomorrow because of the nice weather.)

• Temporal: morgen (tomorrow)
• Kausal: wegen des schönen Wetters (because of the nice weather)
• Modal: gerne (happily/with pleasure)
• Lokal: nach München (to Munich)

✅ Remember: The main verb in German always goes in position 2 in a normal sentence, and adverbs typically come after it.

If you have complex verb forms with multiple parts, the adverb usually goes after the first part, i.e. the auxiliary:

Ich bin in Berlin oft ins Kino gegangen.
(I’ve often gone to the cinema.)

Ich werde morgen schnell eine Bestellung machen.
(I’ll quickly make an order tomorrow.)

Note: Since German word order is very flexible, we can always move adverbs into first position for emphasis. The rest of the adverbs will still be sorted according to TeKaMoLo, however.

Let’s take our example from above with the full chain of adverbs and show how you can move any of them into first position while still maintaining the sorting rule for the rest:

Morgen fahre ich wegen des schönen Wetters gerne nach München.
(I’m happily going to Munich tomorrow because of the nice weather.)

Gerne fahre ich morgen wegen des schönen Wettersnach München.
(I’m happily going to Munich tomorrow because of the nice weather.)

Wegen des schönen Wetters fahre ich morgennach München.
(I’m happily going to Munich tomorrow because of the nice weather.)

The Gern-Lieber-Am liebsten Trio: Expressing Preferences Like a German

One of the most useful adverb sets in German is the gern-lieber-am liebsten trio for expressing preferences:

• gern/gerne = gladly, with pleasure (basic form) Ich trinke gern Tee. (I like drinking tea.)
• lieber = rather, preferably (comparative) Ich trinke lieber Kaffee als Tee. (I prefer coffee to tea.)
• am liebsten = most preferably (superlative) Am liebsten trinke ich heiße Schokolade. (I most prefer drinking hot chocolate.)

Quick Tip: Use these three to talk about your preferences in German – it’s much more natural than saying “Ich mag…” for everything!

Let’s Practice!

In Conclusion: Keep Calm and Adverb On!

Congratulations! You’ve just mastered one of the most important parts of German grammar. Remember:

• Adverbs tell us how, when, where, and why
• They never change their form (hooray!)
• Position matters: follow the TeKaMoLo rule
• Feel free to move adverbs into first position for emphasis

The best way to get comfortable with adverbs? Listen for them in German songs and TV series, spot them them in books or on advertising posters. You’ll start to develop a sense for where they naturally belong.

So go ahead and start using these adverbs oft (often), gern (gladly), and überall (everywhere) in your German conversations!

Viel Erfolg! (Good luck!)

Your German Adverb Cheat Sheet

Here’s a handy reference table of the most common adverbs you’ll need:

Time – Temporal

 Frequency – Temporal

Reason & Result – Kausal

Manner – Modal

Degree – Modal

Place – Lokal

–