Adverbs
What do adverbs do?
Just as adjectives add some sort of description to nouns, adverbs add a description to verbs.
While English forms the adverb by adding '-ly' to the adjective, in German there is no difference between the adjective and the adverb.
For example:
Dornröschen ist schön. - Sleeping Beauty is beautiful.
Sie singt schön. - She sings beautifully.
Comparative
The comparative form of the adverb is formed by adding '-er', just the same as the adjective.
For example:
Meine Mutter fährt schneller als mein Vater. - My mother drives faster than my father.
Superlative
The superlative of the adverb takes the form of 'am ...sten'.
For example:
Maria singt am schönsten. - Maria sings the most beautifully.
Lewis Hamilton fährt am schnellsten. - Lewis Hamilton drives the fastest.
Adverbial use of 'gern'
You can add the adverb 'gern' to a verb in German to convey the meaning of 'liking to do something'. Used in this way it has very much the same meaning as the modal verb 'mögen'.
| Ich esse gern Äpfel | I like (eating) apples. |
| Ich gehe gern ins Kino. | I like going to the cinema. |
| Was tust du gern am Wochenende? | What do you like doing at the weekend? |
NB: The comparative and superlative forms are irregular:
| gern lieber | am liebsten |
For example:
Ich spiele lieber Tennis. - I prefer (playing) tennis.
Ich fahre am liebsten nach Spanien. - I prefer (going to) Spain most of all. Spain is my favourite place to go to.
NB: Note the position of 'lieber' and am 'liebsten' in these two examples.