GermanAdverbs, Sentence Structure In German, you can use adverbsNo definition set for adverbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of frequency to express how often an action or event takes place, took place, or will take place.
Morgens trinke ich eine Tasse Kaffee.
I drink a cup of coffee in the morning.
Ich trinke meinen Kaffee fast immer schwarz, aber manchmal mit etwas Milch.
Almost always I drink my coffee black, but sometimes with some milk.
In this article, we will go through some of the common German adverbs of frequency, discuss what they mean and where to place them in a sentence. Let’s get started!
Adverbs of frequency: what are they and when do you use them?
Adverbs of frequency are used to describe how often an action or event occurs. They are often used to discuss routines, patterns, habits or recurring activities and events. We can split them into groups based on whether they tell you exactly how often the action happens (e.g. weekly) or generally how often the action happens (e.g. occasionally). We call them adverbs of definite or indefinite frequency. Let’s dig a little deeper!
Adverbs of definite frequency
Adverbs of definite frequency are used to express frequency that specifies a particular time or time frame and is therefore measurable. It tells you the exact details about how often and when something happens.
Tina hat nur wenig Zeit. Montags geht sie zum Ballet, dienstags hat sie Klavierunterricht, mittwochs Theater, donnerstags geht sie zum Schwimmen und freitags zum Reiten.
Tina only has little time. On Mondays she goes to ballet, on Tuesdays she has piano lessons, on Wednesdays she has drama lessons, on Thursdays she goes swimming and on Fridays she goes horseback riding.
Let’s talk about how these can be formed!
How to form adverbs like “daily” or “on Mondays”
Adverbs of definite frequency like “daily” or “on Mondays” come from nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum..
Morgens putze ich mir die Zähne nach dem Aufstehen.
Every morning I brush my teeth after getting up.
→ morgens comes from der Morgen(morning)
Die Zeitschrift wird monatlich veröffentlicht.
The magazine is published monthly.
→ monatlich comes from der Monat(month)
You can form them by either adding the letter -s or the suffix -lich to the stemNo definition set for stemLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the origin noun. Unlike nouns, though, adverbs are not capitalized. Here are the rules to follow:
If the noun represents a time of day, add -s:
If the noun represents a day of the week, add -s:
If the noun represents some other time period (e.g. day, week, month, or year), add -lich
Note that some of these come with a vowel change to an umlaut!
Just like in English, you can also express a recurring frequency using a longer phrase (e.g. “every three weeks”).
The German equivalent of something like “every week,” with a singular time noun, is formed like this:
singular time noun
(accusative)
jeden Tag(every day)
jeden Montag(every day)
jeden Woche(every day)
jeden Jar(every day)
The German equivalent of something like “every three weeks”, with a number and a plural time noun, is formed like this:
plural time noun
accusative case
Tim leert seinen Briefkasten nur alle zwei Tage.
Tim empties his mailbox only every two days.
Alle drei Monate kommt meine Freundin aus Berlin zu Besuch.
Every three months my friend from Berlin comes to visit.
To learn more about these kinds of phrases, check out our post on the accusative case in German!
How to form adverbs like “once” or “three times”
Adverbs of definite frequency like “once” or “three times” are formed by adding the ending -mal to a number.
Peter hat den Film schon dreimal gesehen.
Peter has already watched the movie three times.
Ich habe dir schon hundertmal gesagt, dass du dein Zimmer aufräumen sollst!
I have already told you one hundred times that you have to clean up your room!
The word for “once” in German is ✅einmal(once)rather than ❌einsmal.
Adverbs of indefinite frequency
Adverbs of indefinite frequency are words like “always” or “sometimes,” that we use to express frequency in more general terms. In German, these mostly just need to be learned, there are no formation rules.
Here is a list of some of the most common ones. For a comprehensive list of German adverbs of indefinite frequency, please check out our list.
A handful of adverbs of indefinite frequency have comparative and superlative forms:
selten, seltener, am seltensten
seldom, less seldom, least seldom
häufig, häufiger, am häufigsten
often, more often, most often
oft, öfter/öfters, am häufigsten
seldom, less seldom, least seldom
→ Even though am öftesten(most often) it is grammatically correct, Germans usually use the synonym am häufigsten instead.
Where to put adverbs of frequency in a German sentence?
In German, the position of frequency adverbs is fairly flexible. They can all come at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. There are some generalizations you can follow, though, to help your German sound more natural.
Remember, all German sentences will still follow the general word order rules we covered in our introduction to German word order! So in a statement, the verb will always be in second-position. So if you move an object or adverb into first position, the subject will follow the verb instead!
Let’s look at some examples!
In the middle of the sentence — Neutral
The most neutral position for an adverb of frequency in German is probably in the middle of a sentence, directly after the conjugated verbNo definition set for conjugated verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., and before any objectsNo definition set for objectsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. So the order here is:
Ich spiele oft nach der Arbeit Klavier.
I often play piano after work.
Paul geht montags zum Fußballtraining.
On Mondays, Paul goes to soccer practice.
However, you can move the adverb to rest before the direct object as well:
adverb of frequencydirect object
Ich spiele nach der Arbeit oft Klavier.
I often play piano after work.
adverb of frequencyindirect objectdirect object
Sie gibt mir manchmal Schokolade zum Frühstück.
She sometimes gives me chocolate for breakfast.
If both objects are pronouns, though, the adverb should either follow the verb, or go after both object pronouns:
direct object pronounindirect object pronounadverb of frequency
Sie gibt sie mir manchmal zum Frühstück.
She sometimes gives it to me for breakfast.
If you want to put the object or some other phrase in first position, for emphasis, the adverb will be “bumped back” a slot, to allow the subject to follow the conjugated verb.
emphasized phraseconjugated verb (v2)subjectfrequency adverb
Zum Fußballtraining an der Uni geht Paul montags.
Paul goes to soccer practice at university on Mondays.
At the beginning of the sentence — Emphatic
German speakers put the adverb of frequency at the beginning of a sentence to add some emphasis.
adverb of frequencyconjugated verb
Oft spiele ich nach der Arbeit Klavier.
Often, I play piano after work.
Montags geht Paul zum Fußballtraining.
On Mondays, Paul goes to soccer practice.
At the end of the sentence — Emphatic
You can also put the frequency adverb at the end of the sentence for emphasis. When placing it at the end, it follows absolutely everything else in the sentence:
adverb of frequency
Herr Meier bezahlt seine Mitarbeiter monatlich.
Mr. Meier pays his employees monthly.
Klavier spiele ich nach der Arbeit oft.
I often play piano after work.
When using a separable verb, the separated prefix needs to come at the absolute end of the sentence, rather than the adverb. However, you can still put an adverb of frequency directly before that separated prefix:
Lebensmittel Frau Schmidt wöchentlich ein.
Mrs. Schmidt shops for groceries weekly.
What if there is more than one frequency adverb?
If there is more than one adverb of frequency, you have the same options—depending on what your emphasis is. Usually, the adverbs of frequency should be clustered together:
adverb of frequency
✅Ich besuche meine Mutter oft montags.
✅Ich besuche oft montags meine Mutter.
I visit my mother often on Mondays.
However, if you want to put an adverb in first position, the second adverb of frequency goes in the middle or at the end.
adverb of frequency
Montags besuche ich oft meine Mutter.
Montags besuche ich meine Mutter oft.
On Mondays I often visit my mother.
Summary
Here are the major things to remember about German adverbs of frequency:
To create adverbs like “on Mondays,” “weekly,” or “monthly,” add -s or -lich to the appropriate noun
To create adverbs like “once” or “four times,” add -mal to the number
Adverbs of frequency are most neutrally used after the conjugated verb, but they can also come in a range of other locations, including at the beginning or end (for emphasis)
And now, head on over to our German adverbs of frequency activities to practice all about adverbs of frequency in German!
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