# Turning adjectives into adverbs



## Dymn

Hi!

How do you form adverbs from adjectives in your own language?

For example, in English *-ly*, in Catalan and French *-ment*, in Spanish *-mente*, etc.


----------



## apmoy70

In Classical Greek, *«-ως» -ōs*, and *«-ὶ» -ì*, in Modern Greek *«-ως»* [-os] & *«-α»* [-a]


----------



## AutumnOwl

In Swedish it's usually adding a _*-t*_ to a word:
stor - stor*t* (large - largely)
söt - söt_*t*_ (sweet - sweetly)
glad - glat*t* (happy - happily)


----------



## Peterdg

In Dutch it's simple: we do nothing.


----------



## rusita preciosa

In Russian we usually replace the ending of the adjective with an o:

широк*ий* - широк*о* /shirokiy - shiroko/ (wide - widely)
сладк*ий* - сладк*о* /sladkiy - sladko/  (sweet - sweetly)
счастлив*ый* - счастлив*о* /schastlivyi - schastlivo/ (happy - happily) 

But of course we have many other ways to form an adverb.


----------



## Radioh

Peterdg said:


> In Dutch it's simple: we do nothing.



Haha, interesting. We do not change or add anything either.


----------



## bibax

Radioh said:


> Haha, interesting. We do not change or add anything either.


Happy people!

Czech as an inflected language uses certain inflected forms of the adjectives, namely loc. (in most cases) and acc. sing. of the neuter gender form (similarly Latin: multum, paucum - acc. sing. neut.; multo, pauco - abl. sing. neut.).

Locative:

sladký (sweet) - sladce;
suchý (dry) - suše;
měkký (soft) - měkce;
tvrdý (hard) - tvrdě;
nový (new) - nově;
starý (old) - staře;
nesouměrný (asymmetrical) - nesouměrně;
etc.

The locative sing. ending is *-ě* (causes palatalization of the previous consonant).

In some cases both locative and accusative forms are possible, the derived adverbs then have different usage.

hluboký (deep) - hluboko (acc.), hluboce (loc.);
vysoký (high) - vysoko (acc.), vysoce (loc.);

hluboko v moři, vysoko na nebi = deep _(where?)_ in the sea, high in the sky;
e.g. tahle ryba žije hluboko v moři = _this fish lives deep in the sea_;
hluboce lituji, vysoce pravděpodobný = deeply _(how?)_ sorry, highly probable;


----------



## Radioh

bibax said:


> Happy people!
> 
> Czech as an inflected language uses certain inflected forms of the adjectives, namely loc. (in most cases) and acc. sing. of the neuter gender form (similarly Latin: multum, paucum - acc. sing. neut.; multo, pauco - abl. sing. neut.).
> 
> Locative:
> 
> sladký (sweet) - sladce;
> suchý (dry) - suše;
> měkký (soft) - měkce;
> tvrdý (hard) - tvrdě;
> nový (new) - nově;
> starý (old) - staře;
> nesouměrný (asymmetrical) - nesouměrně;
> etc.
> 
> The locative sing. ending is *-ě* (causes palatalization of the previous consonant).
> 
> In some cases both locative and accusative forms are possible, the derived adverbs then have different usage.
> 
> hluboký (deep) - hluboko (acc.), hluboce (loc.);
> vysoký (high) - vysoko (acc.), vysoce (loc.);
> 
> hluboko v moři, vysoko na nebi = deep _(where?)_ in the sea, high in the sky;
> e.g. tahle ryba žije hluboko v moři = _this fish lives deep in the sea_;
> hluboce lituji, vysoce pravděpodobný = deeply _(how?)_ sorry, highly probable;



Wow, that sounds complicated to me. And you are right. We are very lucky.


----------



## bibax

Radioh said:


> Wow, that sounds complicated to me.


It sounds complicated but in fact it is quite easy. In most cases simply replace the ending *-ý* with *-e*, then change the previous consonant: _adj._ dobr*ý* _'good'_ -> dobr*e* -> _adv._ dob*ř*e _'well'._

For changing consonants before a front vowel (like *-e*) there is a general rule, nothing specific for the adverbs.

The second possibility is even easier. Simply replace the ending *-ý* with *-o* (similarly like in Russian): _adj._ blízk*ý* _'near, close'_ -> _adv._ blízk*o*. There is no consonant change as *-o* is a back vowel.


----------



## ger4

Radioh said:


> Haha, interesting. We do not change or add anything either.


Just as in German: adverbs normally have the same form as adjectives.  

happy = glücklich (adjective) 
happily = glücklich (adverb)

Sometimes we add -weise (related to English '-wise' as in 'likewise') to form adverbs:

unfortunate = unglücklich (adjective)
unfortunately = unglücklicherweise (adverb)


----------



## lingpil

But be aware that in German it only works with predicative adjectives. "Er ist glücklich." = He is happy. Attributive adjectives take endings depending on numerus and genus as well as on the case.

"Ein glücklich*er* Mann." Nom.
"Eines glücklich*en* Mannes." Gen.
"Einem glücklich*en* Mann." Dat.
"Einen glücklich*en* Mann." Acc.

(Mann = man masc. sin.)

So yes, we do nothing but only with regard to predicative adjectives.


----------



## Peterdg

lingpil said:


> But be aware that in German it only works with predicative adjectives. "Er ist glücklich." = He is happy. Attributive adjectives take endings depending on numerus and genus as well as on the case.
> 
> "Ein glücklich*er* Mann." Nom.
> "Eines glücklich*en* Mannes." Gen.
> "Einem glücklich*en* Mann." Dat.
> "Einen glücklich*en* Mann." Acc.
> 
> (Mann = man masc. sin.)
> 
> So yes, we do nothing but only with regard to predicative adjectives.


I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean. The question was what you do to convert an adjective into an adverb. It's not about adjectives being invariable or not. Or, am I missing a point here?


----------



## ger4

@lingpil
@Peterdg

These are just two ways of looking at it, no contradiction here. If we use attributive adjectives (as opposed to predicative adjectives) as the 'starting point' for the formation of adverbs we need to cut off the endings first in order to get to the stem of the adjective. The stem is then identical with both the predicative adjective and the adverb. 

attributive adjective minus endings = predicative adjective = adverb

And, of course, there are exceptions, as in 'unfortunate'='unglücklich' (adjective) > 'unfortunately'='unglücklicherweise' (adverb)


----------



## Peterdg

Aaaah. Now I understand. So, I was missing a point.


----------



## ger4

re: #11 and #13 
I think in Germany sometimes there is a tendency to make things sound more complicated than they actually are  (Message to myself: keep it simple)


----------



## ThomasK

Peterdg said:


> In Dutch it's simple: we do nothing.


Well, there is at least one funny phenomenon with sentence adverbs, such as *spijtig *(alas, regretful), _*vreemd *_(strange), and especially (_*on)gelukkig[(un)fortunately)*_: 


> *Spijtig/ Vreemd/Jammer genoeg *(_Flemish _ongelukkiglijk) was hij ook ziek



We have this strange *genoeg *[enough] turning up in sentence adverbs, needed to use adjectives as adverbs. There is a historic suffix, no longer productive, I think, _lijk _(-ly) that we have after deverbative adverbs (_vermoedelijk, hopelijk,_ _geleidelijk_, ...) and in my dialect also with deadjectival adverbs such as (_on)gelukkiglijk, wijselijk _(wisely)... or we have aan-variants: _*stil/aan, rustig/aan, ... *_There is a also -_gewijs _(-wise), but only after nouns. 

But come to think of it, we can even use a diminutive of an adjective as an adv.: _*netjes, stilletjes, rustigjes, zachtjes, *_etc. Isn't that very special?  ;-)


----------



## animelover

German and Japanese.

*German:*



Holger2014 said:


> And, of course, there are exceptions, as in 'unfortunate'='unglücklich' (adjective) > 'unfortunately'='unglücklicherweise' (adverb)



I feel there's more to it. The most common use of "unfortunately" is as an apology - "Unfortunately, we cannot...". But in this case, it doesn't really  modify the verbal action, but rather the entire sentence . You wouldn't really use "unglücklicherweise" here, I would say "leider", or perhaps "bedauerlicherweise".

Consider the following sentence:
Peter malt unglücklich ein Bild.
Peter draws a picture unhappily. (eg. with a sad face)

May not be the best example, but at any rate, if you change the adverb to "unglücklicherweise", you end up with a different meaning:

Peter malt unglücklicherweise ein Bild.
(Unfortunately/Sadly/It is regrettable that), Peter draws a picture. 

To summarize: In my opinion, we usually take the infinite form of the adjective and use it as an adverb. Sometimes, we form adjectives with certain suffixes. These special forms may exist in addition to the basic adverbial form and possess a slightly different meaning abd usage.

One more example:

Laura überquert die Brücke sicher.
Laura crosses the bridge safely.
(sounds bookish to me, though)

Laura überquert die Brücke sicherheitshalber.
(Just to be sure/Just in case/As a precaution), Laura crosses the bridge.

Of course, normally you would _not_ cross the bridge if you wanted to play it safe.



*Japanese:*

Use a certain inflection (ie. 連用形, ren'youkei) of the adjective as the adverb. That is, remove -i and add -ku. hayai "quick, early" -> hayaku "quickly".

Ex:
さあ、早くこっちへ来たまえ！
Saa, hayaku kocchi e kitamae!
Come here quickly, now!

It should be mentioned there are special words that are adverbs on their own, eg. ゆっくり 'yukkuri' "leisurely, slowly". 

Furthermore, we can use certain particles (mainly と 'to' and に 'ni') to turn Chinese loan words into adverbs, eg. 颯爽と 'sassou to' "gallantly, dashing", or 綺麗に 'kirei ni' "beautifully, neatly".

Additionally, we can suffix (a) the verb なる 'naru' or たる 'taru' "to be" in older Japanese, (b) the abbreviated form な 'na' in contemporary Japanese, or (c) the noun joining "genitive" particle の 'no' to these Chinese loans to form adjectives, eg. 綺麗な花束 'kirei na hanataba' "a beautiful [flower] bouquet', or 壮麗たる歌声 'sourei taru utagoe' "a gorgeous/magnificient [singing] voice".

In that sense, you could say that we can turn what are sometimed called "na/no-adjectives" or "noun adjectives" into adverbs by removing -na, -no, -naru, or -taru and adding -ni, or -to. In contemporary Japanese, this usually boils down to removing -na, or -no and adding -ni.


----------



## origumi

Radioh said:


> Haha, interesting. We do not change or add anything either.


The thread's question contains indeed an implicit assumption that IE-languages behavior is ubiquitous.

In Hebrew too there's no systematic way to turn adjectives into adverbs. Beyond few inherent adverbs (like היטב = well), we usually take a noun and make it an adverb by adding "with" or similar word/preposition. That is, "happily" is expressed as "'with happiness" or "in a happy manner". Examples: בשמחה, באופן עצמוני, עם הרבה רגש. In other cases the adjective and adverb are identical. Example: תקשיב לי טוב טוב.


----------



## ger4

@ animelover:
It is interesting that you distinguish between adverbs modifying sentences on the one hand and adverbs modifying individual words on the other hand. Finnish makes a formal distinction here:

adjective + -sti: one of the most common ways to turn adjectives into adverbs
adjective + -n: often used to form adverbs modifying adjectives (rather than modifying sentences) 

-n is also the genitive ending, so you might compare it to the use of some phrases in very formal English: ("A decision of significant importance" = "a significantly important decision" [doesn't sound good, I admit])

Two examples (Finnish speakers please correct any mistakes - these are typical textbook examples of course in formal/conservative Finnish):
Tule tänne nopeasti! - Come here quickly (Finnish -sti <> English -ly)
Hän on kauhean kiukkuinen - (S)he is terribly mad (Finnish -n <> English -ly)

Of course everything is probably more complicated than that - as always when you're trying to come up with a simple, straightforward, apparently logical explanation...

Is the (generic) term 'adverb' used in 'non-Indo-European languages' at all?

@ThomasK:
Can you give some examples for diminutive endings turning adjectives into adverbs? It seems to me that Dutch/Flemish diminutives in general don't always have a strictly 'diminutive' meaning (as they tend to have in German) but sometimes actually seem to express some kind of understatement (or maybe trying to make a word sound less 'weighty'/important, something like that). But that's a different topic, of course.


----------



## franknagy

The Hungarian language uses two different constructions:
1. If he original *noun has not an adjective* then the rule is
Noun + [binding vowel] + *„s”* -> Adjective.
2. If the original noun *has an an adjective* then the rule is
Qualified[space]Noun + *{„ú”| „ű”}* -> Adjective. The space may be retained or omitted.

Examples
1. 
Erő  -> erős = force -> strong
Méret -> méretes = size -> large.
Has -> hasas = belly -> bellyflop, pregnant (mainly used for animals [cat]).
Mag -> magos = seed -> containing seed (e.g. compote of cherries).
Mag -> magvas = -> laconic (ansver).
Vér -> véres = blood -> bloody. 
Szőr -> szőrös = hair –> hairy.

2. 
Nagy erő -> nagy erejű = strong power -> powerful
Nagy has -> nagy hasú = big belly -> big bellied, fat.
Hegyes mag -> hegyes magvú = pricky seed -> having pricky seed.
Kék vér -> Kékvérű = blue blood -> blue-blooded.
Arany szőr -> Aranyszőrű = golden hair -> golden-haired (e.g. the lamb in a tale).


----------



## Encolpius

In Hungarian it is not so easy either. 

adverbs of manner (how?)
-an/-en: csúnya (ugly) - csúnyán (not nicely), fekete (black) - feketén (pessimistically)...
-ul/-ül: remek (splendid) - remekül (spledidly)...
-on: gazdag (rich) - gazdagon (richly), szabad (free) - szabadon (freely)
-lag/-leg: politikai (politicla) - politikailag (politically)


----------



## bibax

Latin regularly uses either the ending *-e* or the ending *-(i)ter*, according to the declension type.

aridus (arid, dry) - arid*e*
certus (certain) - cert*e*
electricus (electric) - electric*e*
brevis (short) - brev*iter*
diligens (diligent) - diligen*ter*

In some cases Latin (similarly Slavic languages) uses acc. or abl. sing. of the neuter gender form: multum, paucum (acc.), multo, pauco (abl.), hence the Romance mucho, molto, poco, etc.

The "suffix" *-ment(e)* in the Romance languages is the Latin noun mens (mind) in ablative sing.:

piā mente (with pious mind) - piamente (piously)
crédulā mente (with credulous mind) - crédulamente (credulously)

In Latin āridā/eléctricā/... mente _"áridamente/eléctricamente/..."_ would literally mean "with arid/electric/... mind".

Latin: altā mente [repostum] =  [stored] deep in the mind (Virgil);
Romance: altamente [reposto/riposto/reposé] = highly [?];


----------



## franknagy

Encolpius said:


> In Hungarian it is not so easy either.
> 
> adverbs of manner (how?)
> -an/-en: csúnya (ugly) - csúnyán (not nicely), fekete (black) - feketén (pessimistically)...
> -ul/-ül: remek (splendid) - remekül (spledidly)...
> -on: gazdag (rich) - gazdagon (richly), szabad (free) - szabadon (freely)
> -lag/-leg: politikai (politicla) - politikailag (politically)



I would group them so:
1. -n, -an, -en, on, -ön Most frequent. 
2. -ul, ül - For special purposes, and in some irregular cases.
a) To form adverb to an adjective meaning a language.
magyar|ul, angol|ul, német|ül, svéd|ül ...
b) If the adjective express lack of something to avoid the repeating of -an,en:
láthat|atlan|ul (in|vis|ible, in|vis|ibly);
ész -> esz|etlen -> esz|etlen|ül (mind->mindless->*mindlessly.
c) I can hardly explain the tradition:
remek (splendid) -> remek|ül (spledidly);
pocsék (crummy) -> pocsék|ul (nohow),
rossz (bad) -> rossz|ul;
jó (good) -> jól (well) WITHOUT "u" !
3. -lag, -leg 
a) From adjectives derived from nouns by -i as
politika ->politika|i (political) -> politika|i|lag (politically);
érzelem (emotion) -> érzelm|i (emotional) -> érzelm|i|leg (emotionally). 
b) From adjectives derived from participles made by -ó like
úgy látsz|ik (it seems)-> látszó  -> látszó|lag (virtually);
lesz (will be) -> le|het (may be) -> le|het|ő (possible) -> le|het|ő|leg (preferably).


----------



## Encolpius

franknagy said:


> I would group them so:
> 1. -n, -an, -en, on, -ön Most frequent.
> .



Can you write any examples with -on, -ön?


----------



## bibax

Encolpius said:


> Can you write any examples with -on, -ön?


nagy (big) - nagyon
öt (five, not adjective) - ötön


----------



## franknagy

bibax said:


> nagy (big) - nagyon
> öt (five, not adjective) - ötön


Bad example. It means 'on five' in English. It is not adverb but a suffixed numeral. 


> nagy (big) - nagyon


It is a good example of *irregular *binding vowel.
The adjective verb attracts -o- binding vowel is other cases, too nagy-o-k, nagy-o-t (plural, accusative). 

                 [QUOTE Encolpius]Can you write any examples with -ön?[/QUOTE]
No. Strange.
Vörös (red) -> vörösen.
Török (Turkish) -> törökül (in Turkish language).
The word "Török-ön" is not an adverb.
_A törökön kívül beszél görög__ül __is. _= S_he speaks not only Turkish, but Greek, too._
There is only one adverb in the above example: "görögül".
The word "kívül' is a *postposition* with embedded  -ul,-ül suffix.


----------



## bibax

franknagy said:


> Bad example. It means 'on five' in English. It is not adverb but a suffixed numeral.


From Wikipedia:
Suffixes used specifically with numerals and other quantity expressions:


_-an/-en/-n_ for *numeric adverbs*
_The use of the adverbs suffixed with -an/-en/-n is best illustrated by examples: Sokan voltunk. ("There were a lot of us.") *Öten* vannak. ("There are 5 of them.") Ketten mentünk. ("Two of us went.")

_However *öten* is sometimes written *ötön* (_"Ötön voltunk testvérek, három lány és két fiú..."_).


----------



## Radioh

origumi said:


> ...we usually take a noun and make it an adverb by adding "with" or similar word/preposition. That is, "happily" is expressed as "'with happiness" or "in a happy manner"...‎‏ ‏



Ah, we do the same, too, origumi(add with before a noun). When we want something different from adjectives, usually in poetry and literature.


----------



## Encolpius

bibax said:


> _... _However *öten* is sometimes written *ötön* (_"Ötön voltunk testvérek, három lány és két fiú..."_).



Feel free to open a topic in the Hungarian forum...interesting observation...or are you afraid of the Hungarians?


----------



## latchiloya

Peterdg said:


> In Dutch it's simple: we do nothing.



You just do not know how it made me very happy knowing it is not only Filipino Language doing that.


----------



## MindBoggle

In Danish we do like in Swedish: We add -t (except when we don't).

Jeg så en hurtig hest. = I saw a quick horse.
Jeg så en hest hurtig*t*. = I saw a horse quickly.


----------



## franknagy

> Publicado por *bibax*
> 
> 
> 
> _... _However *öten* is sometimes written *ötön* (_"Ötön voltunk testvérek, három lány és két fiú..."_).


There were five people in the room.
If you write "ötön voltak a szobában" in a whodonit story then you write in the SW dialect ( spoken e. g. in Szeged, Hódmezővásárhely).

The common language uses "öten voltak a szobában".

You can say "ötön" in common language but it has different meaning!!!!
Azon az ötön kívül még hárman rejtőzködtek a padláson.= Out these five people three others were hiding on the attic.

The same is true for 3=három -> hárman and hármon differ.
You can read an article about the semantical differentiation in plural of the nouns caused by the binding vowel in Magyar Nyelvőr, Sep 2014, p. 308.


----------



## Nizo

In Esperanto, all adjectives end in *-a* and all adverbs end in *-e*.

bona (good) / bone (well)
dolĉa (sweet) / dolĉe (sweetly)
rapida (fast, quick) / rapide (quickly)


----------



## SuperXW

In Chinese,
adding 地 after the word, makes it an adverb;
adding 的 after the word, usually makes it an adjective.
地 and 的 can be identical on pronunciation, but different on writing. People often mess them up.


----------

