What is a Local Adverb?
Adverbs describe circumstances. They are related to verbs ⇒ adverb. They can‘t be changed and are not declined.
Local adverbs give information about a location.
They are asked for with the questions „where?“, „where to?“, and „from where?“
Preposition or Adverb?
When answering the questions „wo?“, „wohin?“, and „woher?“ you can use either a preposition or an adverb.
- „Wo ist dein Vater?“ – „Im Keller!“
- „Wo ist dein Vater?“ – „Unten!“
- „Wohin geht dein Vater?“ – „In den Keller!“
- „Wohin geht dein Vater?“ – „Nach unten!“
- „Woher kommt dein Vater?“ – „Aus dem Keller!“
- „Woher kommt dein Vater?“ – „Von unten!“
What is the difference between both versions?
- „Wo ist dein Vater?“ – „Im Keller!“
- „Wo ist dein Vater?“ – „Unten!“
With a preposition we say a specific, unchangeable location.
„im Keller“ ⇒ nowhere else
With an adverb we say a non-specific, subjective place that depends on the point of view of the speaker
„Unten!“ ⇒ It can be anywhere below, not necessarily in the cellar.
Local Adverbs – Question: Wo?Local Adverbs – Question: Wohin? / Woher?
- „Drinnen ist es schön warm.“
- „Papa, da ist Oma!“
- „Überall liegt Müll.“
Other adverbs answering the question Wo: rechts, links, oben, unten, drüben, hier, dort, hinten, vorn, irgendwo, innen, außen, nebenan, nirgends,…
Local Adverbs – Question: Wohin? / Woher?
| Wohin? (Where to?) | Woher? (Where from?) | Wohin? (Where to?) | Woher? (Where from?) |
|---|---|---|---|
| nach links | von links | ||
| nach rechts | von rechts | ||
| nach oben | von oben | ||
| nach unten | von unten | ||
| nach drinnen / rein* | von drinnen | dorthin* | dorther* |
| nach draußen / raus* | von draußen | irgendwohin* | irgendwoher* |
* For info about the use of „hin“ / „her“, „raus“ / „rein“und „rauf“/ „runter“ go to lecture 8.02.1. Local adverbs Hin und her.
Summary
- We can answer the question Where? Where to? and where from? with prepositions and adverbs.
- Prepositions always talk about a specific, unchangeable location, whereas local adverbs talk about a non-specific, subjective place that depends on the point of view of the speaker.
Further Information
- General information about Adverbs.
- There are Temporal Adverbs as well.
- The local adverbs „hin“ und „her“ are pretty difficult but really common. Take a look when and how to use them in lecture: Hin and Her
- To understand the difference between the version with prepositions and the adverb go through lecture: Locative Prepositions.
- Some adverbs are used to connect sentences. They are called Conjunctive Adverbs.
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