German Adverbs

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6.1: German Adverbs: Directions

German adverbs are used in many different ways. They have different reasons for using them and I am here to help you. Let us refresh our heads really quick and try to recall what an adverb is? Can you find that memory somewhere in your brain? When did we learn that anyways, third grade?

An adverb helps the verb in the sentence. That is a really general summary of what it does. In English, adverbs normally end with ”-ly”, which makes them easy to identify. Not so in German. Let us take a look at the German meanings then shall we?

There are three categories of adverbs: those for time, for the manner and for the place. They tell you “when, how long”, “how” and “wo, wohin”, respectively. Here are some examples from each category:

TIME: heute (today), immer (always), gestern (yesterday), manchmal (sometimes), bald (soon), früh (early)

MANNER: schwierig (difficult), leise (quietly), sehr (very), ziemlich (rather), leider (unfortunately), vielleicht (maybe)

PLACE: hier (here), dort (there), überall (everywhere), zu Hause (at home), in Deutschland (in Germany)

This lesson will focus on the uses of adverbs in asking directions.

Why would I choose directions? Most people; who want to learn German, use it for traveling. What do you do when you travel? You ask for directions that's what! So with no further delay, let us dive in.

When you ask how to get to a certain place, keep in mind that German has many meanings. What do I mean by this? I mean that the use of the word can be something totally different in another context. If you ask "Where is my hat?", it would be completely different if you were to ask "Where is she going?". Do you see what I am getting at? The first one is asking for a location, the second one for a motion or direction. If you are going to ask something with the word "where" in the question, use these rules. The word "wohin" is used when talking about motion or direction. The word "wo" is about asking location. So if you were to ask, "Where is my hat?", you would use "wo". If you were to ask, "Where is she going?", you would use "wohin".

Now that you have that under your belt, it is time to consider the consequences. That's right, how often do you think before you act? I really hope you do. You may be the world's greatest person at asking for directions in German. Yet, do you have any darn clue on what the answer will be and how to comprehend it? Perhaps, but I think if you asked the average person, you would have no idea what they said back.

So to make things easy, make your question easy. It is a simple concept, easy questions equal easy answers. You should ask questions using basic German words, such as left, right, back, turn, and so on. If this does not help in any way do not start crying and freaking out. Control yourself and use the ever so known way of communication. Draw a picture! Below is a list of common adverbs, asking-directions related words and their meanings.

Straight ahead - Geradeaus

North - Norden

East - Osten

South - Süden

West - Westen

Back - Zurück

Forward - Vorwärts

Left - Links

Right - Rechts

Going - Gehen

Leaving - Verlassen

Arriving - Ankommen