Adverbs of Time, Manner, and Place in German

If you want to say how, where, and when something happened, you often need to use an adverb. What is an adverb?! It’s simple. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. They are easier to learn than German adjectives because they don’t change their endings.

The Different Types of Adverbs in German

There are different types of adverbs in German and today, we will be taking a closer look at adverbs of time, manner, and place in German. Let’s dive right in.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time tell you when something was done—for example, what day or what time. It was done yesterday (gestern), never (nie), or in the afternoon (nachmittags), to give you an idea. Let’s examine the following table, which lists the most common adverbs of time in German.

Jenny’s video offers a clear and helpful explanation of where to position adverbs of time, manner, and place in German sentences. The tables are a great help as well.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner tell you how something was done or performed. It was done fast (schnell), with pleasure (gerne), or hesitantly (zögerlich), to name a few examples. Let’s take a look at the following table, which lists the most common adverbs of manner in German.

Ready to learn even more adverbs of manner in German? Then watch this video with Jenny and learn how adverbs of manner are pronounced and how they are used in sentences.

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place tell you where something took place. It happened upstairs (oben), there (dort), or drinnen (inside). Let’s take a look at the following table, which lists the most common adverbs of manner in German.

German Sentence Structure with Time, Manner, and Place

Once you have memorized some of the adverbs of time, manner, and place mentioned above, it is time to learn how to use them in a sentence. There are specific rules of where to place these adverbs and once you know how it works, you will have much less difficulty with German sentence structure.

In a German sentence, the first piece of information you mention is the time. You place it after the verb.

• Ich fahre morgen ins Büro. I am going to the office tomorrow.
• Peter fliegt nächste Woche nach Spanien. Peter is flying to Spain next week.
• Sabrina besucht heute Nachmittag ihre Großeltern. Sabrina is visiting her grandparents this afternoon.

You may have noticed that the time element can consist of more than one word, as seen in the second and third examples. If you specify a more precise time, it follows the general time indication.

• Sie kommt morgen um 14 Uhr vorbei. She is coming over tomorrow at 2 PM.
• Der Film läuft heute um 20.15 Uhr. The movie is on today at 8:15 PM

We can add further elements to that sentence such as an adverb of manner. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

• Noah fährt morgen alleine nach Frankfurt. Noah is going to Frankfurt alone tomorrow.
• Er bleibt am Wochenende leider zu Hause. Unfortunately, he is staying at home this weekend.
• Ich gehe jetzt schnell in die Mensa. I’m quickly going to the cafeteria now.

Let’s add an adverb of place and form some sentences with all three types of adverbs.

• Ich bin am Samstag mit meinen Kollegen auf einer Messe. I’m at a trade fair with my co-workers on Saturday.
• Sarah fliegt nächste Woche mit ihren Freundinnen nach Italien. Sarah is flying to Italy with her (female) friends next week.
• Wir bleiben heute den ganzen Tag mit den Kindern im Garten. We’re staying in the backyard with the kids all day today.

A German sentence does not need all of those elements to be complete. You can have a time and place element without an adverb of manner.

• Ich fliege morgen nach Berlin. I am flying to Berlin tomorrow.
• Wir gehen nächstes Jahr nach Australien. We are going/moving to Australia next week.

If you have already learned a little about German sentence structure, you will know that in a main clause, the verb typically comes second. You can add pieces of information around that verb quite flexibly. If you want to stress where you are going tomorrow, you can put that first. So the adverb of place would be first, followed by the verb and the rest of the sentence. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

• Nach Berlin fliege ich morgen. I am flying to Berlin tomorrow. (Literally: To Berlin fly I tomorrow.)
• Zu Hause bleibe ich am Wochenende nicht. I am not staying at home this weekend. (Literally: At home stay I this weekend not.)

This applies to adverbs of time and manner as well.

• Am Freitag fahren wir mit Freunden ans Meer. On Friday, we are going to the seaside with friends.
• Heute Abend gehen wir in eine Bar. Tonight, we are going to a bar.
• Zögerlich hat er zugestimmt. He agreed hesitantly. (Literally: Hesitantly agreed he.)
• Plötzlich sind Felsbrocken auf die Straße gefallen. Suddenly, rocks fell onto the road.

In the following video, Niko provides an in-depth explanation of how adverbs of time can be placed in a sentence.

TEKAMOLO

If you want to take it a step further, you can add a causal element (why did something happen?).

This element would follow the time element. You can remember this structure by simply memorizing TEKAMOLO (TEmporal, KAusal, MOdal and LOkal). Let us examine a few examples.

• Ich bleibe morgen wegen der ganzen Arbeit länger im Büro bleiben. I will stay longer in the office tomorrow because of all the work.
• Wir bleiben heute aufgrund der Unwetterwarnung zu Hause. We are staying home today because of the storm warning.
• Lisa arbeitet ab sofort infolge der Belästigung durch den Chef nur noch von zu Hause. Lisa now works from home only because of the harassment by her boss.

That’s a Wrap

Adverbs of time, manner, place, and cause have an important influence on German sentence structure. By organizing them correctly, you can create clear and natural sentences and communicate more fluently. Remember, German follows a specific pattern where time typically comes first, followed by manner, cause, and place (TEKAMOLO). Once you grasp these rules, constructing sentences will become much easier. Keep practicing and applying these concepts. Soon, you’ll be able to form complex and well-structured sentences in German with confidence!