Adverbs
The word adverb is Latin and means “standing by the verb”. Adverbs describe things a bit further, in particular actions or happenings which you can ask for with hur, how.
Example:
I run quickly. → How do I run? Quickly.
Adverbs can, opposite what the word means, describe adjectives, other adverbs, and even whole sentences.
Example:
You are very kind. → How kind are you? Very.
How to construct adverbs
A lot of adverbs have their origin in an adjective. To construct an adverb in Swedish, we just add a -t to an adjective which basically is the same as the neuter form of the word. All irregularities that might occur are transferred to the adverb as well, so that you don’t need to learn a bunch of new things. Check out lesson 9 again to recap the adjectives.
Example:
The adverb gott originates in the adjective god.
Important endings
| Ending | Adjective | Adverb | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -t | långsam | långsamt | slow / slowly |
| -en* | verklig | verkligen | real / really |
| -vis** | lycklig | lyckligtvis | happy / luckily |
| -lunda | – | annorlunda | differently |
| -stans | – | någonstans | somewhere |
Comparison of adverbs
Most adverbs are unchanged but some can be compared like adjectives. Can you remember how it goes? The word gets the ending -are in stage 1 and -ast in stage 2 (recap lesson 18). The adverb loses the ending -t when compared like this.
| Part of speech | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjective | snabb | snabbare | snabbast |
| Adverb | snabbt | snabbare | snabbast |
Important irregular adverbs
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bra / väl | bättre | bäst | good / well |
| gärna | hellre | hellst | willingly / I don’t mind |
| illa / dåligt | sämre | sämst | bad |
| illa / dåligt | värre | värst | bad |
| länge | längre | längst | long |
| lite(t) | mindre | minst | small / less |
| mycket | mer | mest | much / very |
| nära | närmare | närmast | close |
Adverbs of time
| aldrig | never | nyligen | newly |
| alltid | always | ofta | often |
| flera gånger | several times | redan | already |
| fortfarande | still | samtidigt | at the same time |
| först | firstly | slutligen | finally |
| ibland | sometimes | snart | soon |
| idag | today | strax | in a minute / soon |
| igår | yesterday | så småningom | eventually |
| just | just | sällan | rarely |
| nu | now | varje gång | every time |
| nuförtiden | nowadays | äntligen | finally |
Adverbs of place
These adverbs describe where something happens. They mostly have two variations, one describing where something happens and one for where something is going. To create the form describing an idle state, you take the form for directions and add a -e or -a.
| Direction | Idle state | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (Jag går) in. | (I’m going) in. | (Jag är) inne. | (I’m) inside. |
| (Jag går) ut. | (I’m going) out. | (Jag är) ute. | (I’m) outside. |
| (Jag går) upp. | (I’m going) up(stairs). | (Jag är) uppe. | (I’m) up(stairs). |
| (Jag går) ned/ner. | (I’m going) down(stairs). | (Jag är) nere. | (I’m) down(stairs). |
| (Jag åker) bort. | (I’m going) away. | (Jag är) borta. | (I’m) gone/away. |
| (Jag går) hem. | (I’m going) home. | (Jag är) hemma. | (I’m) (at) home. |
| (Kom) fram! | (Come) to the front! (Show yourself!) | (Jag är) framme. | (I’m) in the front. (I’m there) |