02.09.24: adverbs [1](2); introduction

Ever since the group began, adverbs have been used without looking at them in much detail although lists of time phrases have been included which act as adverbs. 

You probably were taught at school – not just in English but in other languages too – that an adjective ‘modifies’ or 'describes' a noun i.e. gives extra information about a noun, for example a loud noise.

When an English speaker thinks of the word adverb, two thoughts most often come to mind: 

[i] an adverb modifies / describes a verb

[ii] the ending is -ly

> He spoke slow¦ly.

But that is a “quick fix” explanation.

Image #1: an adverb modifies:

1. a verb e.g. he spoke loudly / quietly / angrily
2. an adjective e.g. very / rather / unbearably loud
3. another adverb e.g. he spoke fairly loudly / extremely quietly / quite angrily
4. A whole sentence e.g. Luckily, they still had some bread left.

The same functions apply in Latin.

Image #2: adverbs - both in English and Latin - often don't end in -ly and the Latin equivalent,  and at times can be created with using more than one word. There are so many of them that it would be impossible to list every one that exists. It is also useful, although not essential, to group the adverbs according to type when learning them.

Image #3: we’ll look at four ways of creating adverbs and adverbial phrases because, to a large extent, English and Latin match although they don’t always end up in the same boxes. Below is a summary of what the posts will cover.

[1] Engl. addition of -ly │ La. -ē / -ter

[i] La. -ē

dear > dearly │ cārus > cārē

happy > happily │ laetus > laetē

[ii] La. –(i)ter

brave > bravely │ fortis > fortiter

cruel > cruelly │ crūdēlis > crūdēliter

[2] a single word not formed from an adjective:

always │ semper

here │ ibi

therefore │ ergō

yesterday │ herī

Latin’s case system can come into play when adverbs are formed for example a case can express the idea in a single word which, in English, needs a preposition. However, as mentioned above, once that adverb has been created, it will not change:

at night │ nocte

at home │ domī

[3] adverbial phrases: two or more words that, individually, are not adverbs but, when used together, act as adverbs to give additional information about the action:

The Greeks attacked Troy for many years. │ Graecī Troiam multōs annōs oppugnāvērunt.

I’ll return within a few days. │ Paucīs diēbus redībō.

Again, note that Latin uses its case system whereas English needs a preposition.

[4] prepositional phrases; like [3] above these words individually are not adverbs but can function as adverbial phrases when combined:

I go towards the camp. │ Ad castra eō.