a crate of onions and a bunch of carrots
German Articles

How to form and use German adverbials of time, reason, manner, and place?

By: Ulrike Carlson Thu Jun 05 2025
German
Adverbs, Sentence Structure

German uses adverbials of time, reason, manner, and place to answer many important questions, like Wann?(When?), Warum?(Why?), Wie?(How?) and Wo?(Where?):

adverbial of reasonadverbial of timeadverbial of manneradverbial of place

Wegen des Regens kam der Briefträger um 7 Uhr mit dem Postauto zu uns.

Because of the rain, the mailman came to us by mail vanm at 7 o’clock.

Adverbial phrases tend to occur in a different order in English and German, so answering these questions can make German learners feel like a detective cracking their greatest case.

A silhouette of a detective looking at a very large finger print through a magnifying glass.

So, join me in finding out whodunnit and learn what adverbial phrases to use and how to arrange them in a German sentence. Mysterious adverbial phrases? Not for much longer!

Table of Contents

    What is an adverbial phrase?

    An adverbial phrase is a word or a group of words that acts like an adverb, meaning that it provides descriptive information about something in the sentence that is not a noun. Adverbial phrases, therefore, tend to provide information answering questions like when?, where?, why?, how?, for how long?, to what extent?, or how often?

    We sort adverbial phrases into types based on the kind of information they provide. The four most important categories are:

    • Adverbial phrases of time → When? How often? For how long?

    • Adverbial phrases of reason → Why? How come?

    • Adverbial phrases of manner → How? With what? In what way?

    • Adverbial phrases of place → Where? In which direction? From where?

    Let’s take a look first at each of these types of adverbial phrases, then we’ll talk about where to place them in a sentence.

    Adverbial phrases of time in German

    In German, adverbial phrases of time to express when or how often something happened. For example:

    adverbial phrase of time

    Die Bank war in den letzten Jahren viermal überfallen worden.

    The bank had been robbed four times in the last few years.

    Der letzte Banküberfall war am 7. Juli um 2 Uhr morgens geschehen und die Detektivin dachte jeden Abend daran: Eines Tages würde sie die Lösung finden.

    The last bank robbery happened on July 7 at 2 o’clock in the morning and the detective thought about it every evening: one day she would find the solution.

    Did you notice that these sentences contain more than one adverbial phrase of time? That’s right — there can be more than one of the same type. We will learn about what order they might have in the section on word order further down.

    Here are some common types of time adverbials in German.

    Time Adverbial
    Examples

    clock times

    • um sieben Uhr(at 7 o’clock)

    • halb acht(7:30)

    • 15:30 Uhr(3:15 pm)

    dates

    • am 14. Oktober(on the 14th of October)

    • im Jahre 1892(in 1892)

    time adverbs

    • heute(today)

    • jetzt(now)

    • niemals(never)

    adverbs of frequency

    • einmal(once)

    • hundertmal(a hundred times)

    accusative time phrases

    • jeden Sonntag(every Sunday)

    • diesen Juni(this June)

    genitive time phrases

    • eines Tages(one day)

    • eines Nachts(one night)

    prepositional phrases of time

    • in der Nacht(at night)

    • um Mitternacht(at midnight)

    • in drei Tagen(in three days)

    • nach fünf Wochen(after five weeks)

    postpositional phrases of time

    • eines Tagesadie ganze Nacht hindurch(the whole night through)

    • den ganzen Tag lang(throughout the whole day)

    Adverbial phrases of reason

    Adverbial phrases of reason help you solve a very existential question: Why did it happen? For example:

    adverbial phrase of reason

    Der Detektiv kann deshalb also erst morgen zum Tatort kommen oder notfalls heute Abend.

    So the detective can therefore come to the crime scene only tomorrow, or tonight in a pinch.

    Let’s ask “why” and get to know some adverbial phrases of reason:

    Adverbials of Reason
    Examples

    adverbs expressing a cause

    • deshalb(because of that)

    • daher(therefore)

    adverbs expressing a concession or contrast

    • trotzdem(despite that)

    • dennoch(nevertheless)

    adverbs expressing a result or purpose

    • also(so, thus)

    • darum(for that reason)

    • demzufolge(accordingly, hence)

    adverbs expressing a condition

    • sonst(otherwise)

    • notfalls(in a pinch)

    prepositional phrases of cause

    • wegen seiner Frau(because of his wife)

    • daheraufgrund des Regens (due to the rain)

    • aus Liebe(out of love)

    Adverbial phrases of manner

    Adverbial phrases of manner let you determine how, to what extent, or and by what process something was achieved.

    adverbial of manner

    War es Professor Grünewald mit einem Kugelschreiber?

    Was it Professor Grünewald with a ballpoint pen?

    Ich möchte ihm außerdem sehr gern durch meinen Anwalt meinen Dank übermitteln lassen.

    I would also very much like to impart my thanks to him through my attorney.

    Let’s find out by looking at adverbials of manner:

    Adverbials of Manner
    Examples

    adverbs of manner — “how”

    • gern(gladly)

    • anders(differently)

    adverbs of degree — “how much” or “to what extent”

    • sehr(very)

    • kaum(hardly)

    • besonders(especially)

    adverbs expressing a result or purpose

    • außerdem(in addition to that)

    • auch(also, as well)

    • demzufolge(accordingly, hence)

    adverbs for evaluating something

    • vielleicht(perhaps)

    • zweifellos(in a pinch)

    prepositional phrases of manner

    • mit der Schere(with a pair of scissors)

    • durch harte Arbeit(by hard work)

    • ohne sein Einverständnis(without his approval)

    • mit dem Fahrrad(by bike)

    • mit dem Schiff(by ship)

    Adverbial phrases of place

    And, very importantly, adverbial phrases of place let us determine a location or destination. Where? In what direction? And where did they run to?

    adverbial of place

    Gestern fuhr ein verdächtiges Auto die Goethestraße entlang zur Bank.

    Yesterday, a suspicious car went along Goethe Street to the bank.

    Here are some of the different types of adverbials of place in German:

    Adverbials of Place
    Examples

    adverbs of location

    • hier(here)

    • dort(there)

    • überall (everywhere)

    adverbs of direction

    • bergauf(uphilll)

    • hierhin und dorthin(hither and thither)

    prepositional phrases of place

    • gegen die Wand(against the wall)

    • im Gebäude(inside the building)

    • hinter dem Rathaus(behind the city hall)

    prepositional phrases of destination

    • nach Europa(to Europe)

    • zur Bank(to the bank)

    • auf den Tisch(onto the table)

    • in die Burg(into the castle)

    prepositional phrases of direction

    • um die Ecke(around the corner)

    • durch den Park(through the park)

    postpositional phrases or circumpositions that describe movement

    • die Straße entlang (along the street)

    • unter der Brücke hindurch(underneath the bridge)

    Where to put adverbs and adverbials in a German sentence?

    In German, the position of adverbials of time, reason, manner, and place is fairly flexible.

    The most neutral location for a single adverbial is usually after the object(s) but before sentence-ending pieces like participles or separable prefixes:

    adverbialindirect objectdirect object

    Ich bringe dem Detektiv den Tee um 7 Uhr.

    I will bring the detective the tea at 7 o’clock.

    But adverbs of each type can appear in a number of different locations within the sentence, such as:

    • in the first position (before the conjugated verb ): → this strongly emphasizes the adverbial

      adverbialconjugated verb

      Einmal in der Woche hat er Professor Grünewald besucht.

      Once a week, he visited Professor Grünewald.

      Wegen seines Schnupfens bringe ich dem Detektiv einen Tee.

      Because of his head cold, I will bring the detective a cup of tea.

      Don’t forget: If anything but the subject is in the first position, the subject must stand behind the verb to observe the verb-second rule!

    • before or after a single:direct object

      adverbialdirect object

      ✅Er hat einmal in der Woche Professor Grünewald besucht.
      ✅Er hat Professor Grünewald einmal in der Woche besucht.

      He visited Professor Grünewald once a week.

    • before or after a single indirect object:

      adverbialindirect object

      ✅Ich helfe einmal in der Woche der Detektivin.
      ✅Ich helfe der Detektivin einmal in der Woche.

      I am helping the detective once a week.

    • if there are two objects, the adverbial can go between the two, or after both, but not before both:

      adverbialindirect objectdirect object

      ✅Professor Grünewald hat mir gestern den Kugelschreiber gegeben.
      ✅Professor Grünewald hat mir den Kugelschreiber gestern gegeben.

      Professor Grünewald gave me the ballpoint pen yesterday.

      Remember, placing the adverbial after both is the neutral position. Placing the adverbial between the objects provides slight emphasis:

      adverbialindirect objectdirect object

      Ich bringe dem Detektiv um 7 Uhr den Tee.

      I will bring the detective the tea at 7 o’clock.

      → slight emphasis on when it happens

      If you want to contrast two different adverbials, though, placing the adverbial after both objects is your best bet:

      adverbialindirect objectdirect object

      Ich bringe dem Detektiv seinen Tee morgen, nicht heute.

      I will bring the detective his tea tomorrow, not today.

    • Remember, if there’s a participle or separable prefix at the end, the adverbial never follows that:

      • adverbialparticiple

        Sie haben die zehn Kronjuwelen mit einer Zange herausgebrochen.

        They tore out the ten crown jewels with a pair of pliers.

      • adverbialseparable prefix

        Sie brachen in den Juwelierladen ein.

        They broke into the jeweler’s store.

    • either before or after an adjective that is used as a predicate:

      adverbialpredicate adjective

      ✅Die Detektivin war heute großartig!✅Die Detektivin war großartig heute!

      The detective was great today!

      Tip

      If you have questions about the positions of other elements in the sentences above (e.g. subject, verb, or object) you might want to consult our introduction to word order in German!

    What is the order of adverbs in German?

    When placing adverbs or adverbials from multiple categories into a German clause, the most neutral word order is:

    TIME

    REASON

    MANNER

    PLACE

    Ich fahre bald wegen des neuen Falls mit meinem Partner nach Oxford.

    I will go to Oxford soon with my partner because of the new case.

    This basic word order can change if elements need to be emphasized in conversation. For example, in the sentences below, the position of the manner adverb changes:

    • mannertimeplace

      Wir gehen gern donnerstags ins Museum.

      We will gladly go on Thursdays to the museum.

      → Manner adverb before the time adverbial: implies we like the choice of day.
    • mannertimeplace

      Wir gehen donnerstags gern ins Museum.

      We will gladly go to the museum on Thursdays.

      → Manner adverb before the adverbial of place implies we like the choice of location.

    If the two adverbials come from the same category, their relative positions often make little difference. For example:

    adverb of reason

    ✅Der Detektiv kann deshalb also erst morgen zum Tatort kommen.
    ✅Der Detektiv kann also deshalb erst morgen zum Tatort kommen.

    So the detective can therefore come to the crime scene only tomorrow.

    However, the position of adverbs of destination vs. location can lead to slight differences in meaning:

    destinationlocation

    Gestern ist er im Einkaufszentrum zur Bank gegangen.

    Yesterday, he went to the bank (while) at the shopping mall.

    → Implies that he really went to the mall, but just happened to use the bank while he was there.

    Gestern ist er zur Bank im Einkaufszentrum gegangen.

    Yesterday, he went to the bank at the shopping mall.

    → Implies his destination was the bank at the shopping mall.

    And if there is more than one time adverbial in the same clause, it tends to sound more natural to go from less specific (e.g. time of day, season) to more specific (e.g. exact clock time, exact date).

    least specific timemore specific timemost specific time

    Wir fahren jedes Jahr im Juli um 19 Uhr 15 nach London.

    We go to London at 7:15 PM every year in July.

    Summary

    Adverbials of time, reason, manner, and place allow us to say when, why, how, and where something happened — they’re indispensable! Here is what you should take away from this post:

    • There are lots of ways to form each type of adverbial, but you’ll want to look at what kind of information these phrases provide to help you choose where to place them in a sentence.

    • The position of adverbials is very flexible in German, but the most neutral position for adverbials in German is usually after the object(s) and before any sentence-final pieces, like separable prefixes or participles.

    • If you’re using a number of adverbials, the relative order is usually time + reason + manner + place

    • If using more than one adverb from the same category, their relative positions are usually flexible, but there are some exceptions!

    Now it’s time to practice with these German adverbial exercises to get an even better grasp of time, reason, manner, and place adverbial phrases!

    To embark on your next language adventure, join Mango on social!

    Ready to take the next step?

    The Mango Languages learning platform is designed to get you speaking like a local quickly and easily.

    Mango app open on multiple devices
    Log InSign Up