Adverbs - Příslovce¶
Basic information¶
Adverbs are modifiers that add information to:
- a verb: Cítím se strašně. (I am feeling terribly.)
- an adjective: On je strašně starý. (He is terribly old.)
- another adverb: Cítím se strašně dobře. (I am feeling terribly well.)
Adverbs:
- do not possess the categories of case, number, or gender (but since they are derived from nouns or adjectives, some morphological structures may resemble those)
- some have comparative and superlative forms
Adjectives and adverbs¶
Many adverbs are derived from adjectives by adding an adverbial suffix. In Czech, adjectives and adverbs never have the same form.
See some examples in the table below:
| Adjective | Adverb | Meaning | Suffix | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dobrý | dobře | well | -e | consonant alternation might appear r- > ř in this example |
| špatný | špatně | badly | -ě | palatalization might appear [n] → [ň] in this example |
| hezký | hezky | nicely | -y | vowel shortening might appear -ý → -y in this example |
| pomalý | pomalu | slowly | -u | vowel change -ý → -u in this example |
| malý | málo | few, little | -o | vowel change ý → o in this example |
Types of adverbs¶
We can differentiate adverbs based on their semantic functions.
Location and direction adverbs¶
Place adverbs answer the questions where?.
Movement adverbs answer the question where to? or from where?.
In Czech, some adverbs differ depending on the context.
| Location | Direction | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dole | dolů | down, downwards |
| doma | domů | home |
| nahoře | nahoru | up, upwards |
| někde | někam | somewhere |
| nikde | nikam | nowhere |
| pryč | pryč | away |
| tady | tam | here/there |
| uprostřed | doprostřed | in/to the middle |
| uvnitř | dovnitř | in(side) |
| venku | ven | out(side) |
| vepředu | dopředu | forward |
| vlevo nalevo |
doleva | left, to the left |
| vpravo napravo |
doprava | right, to the right |
| všude | - | everywhere |
| vzadu | dozadu | back |
| - | rovně | directly |
| Place | Meaning |
|---|---|
| blízko | nearby |
| daleko | far |
| nedaleko | nearby, not so far |
Time adverbs¶
| Time | Meaning |
|---|---|
| brzy coll. brzo |
soon |
| dočasně | temporarily |
| dnes | today |
| denně | daily |
| dříve | previously, earlier |
| letos | this year |
| loni | last year |
| měsíčně | monthly |
| nakonec | finally, eventually |
| naposledy | last time |
| napřesrok | next year |
| náhle | suddenly |
| nedávno | recently |
| nekonečně | endlessly |
| nepřetržitě | continuously |
| okamžitě | immediately |
| pokaždé | every time |
| pozítří | day after tomorrow |
| předevčírem | day before yesterday |
| ročně | yearly |
| teď | now |
| týdně | weekly |
| trvale | permanently |
| už | already |
| včera | yesterday |
| ještě | yet |
| zítra | tomorrow |
| zatím | so far, for the time being |
Go to Time expressions for an extended vocabulary list.
Interrogative adverbs¶
| Interrogative | Meaning |
|---|---|
| jak | how |
| jak dlouho | how long |
| dokdy | until when |
| kdy | when |
| kde | where |
| kam | where to |
| odkdy | since when |
| odkud | where from |
| proč | why |
Manner adverbs¶
| Manner | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dobře | lépe | well |
| drsně | drsněji | roughly |
| důkladně | důkladněji | thoroughly |
| hladce | hladčeji | smoothly |
| hořce | hořčeji | bitterly |
| jemně | jemněji | gently |
| moudře | moudřeji | wisely |
| nahlas hlasitě |
- hlasitěji |
loudly |
| naštvaně | naštvaněji | angrily |
| nevhodně | nevhodněji | inappropriately |
| obecně | obecněji | in general, generally |
| opatrně | opatrněji | carefully |
| pečlivě | pečlivěji | accurately |
| pomalu | pomaleji | slowly |
| potichu tiše |
- tišeji |
silently |
| přirozeně | přirozeněji | naturally |
| přímo | příměji | directly |
| rychle | rychleji | quickly |
| snadno | snadněji | easily |
| smutně | smutněji | sadly |
| stručně | stručněji | briefly |
| špatně | hůř(e) | badly |
| šťastně | šťastněji | happily |
| těžko | - | hardly |
| tvrdě | tvrději | hard |
| vřele | vřeleji | warmly |
| zdvořile | zdvořileji | politely |
Frequency adverbs¶
| Frequency | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| často | častěji | often, frequently |
| hlavně | hlavněji | mostly, mainly |
| (jen) zřídka | řidčeji | scarcely |
| někdy | - | sometimes |
| nikdy | - | never |
| občas | - | from time to time, once in a while |
| obvykle | obvykleji | usually |
| opět | - | again |
| převážně | převážněji | mainly, dominantly |
| poprvé | - | for the first time |
| příležitostně | příležitostněji | ocassionally |
| stále, pořád | - | constantly |
| většinou | - | mostly |
| vzácně | vzácněji | rarely |
| vždy | - | always |
| zase | - | again |
Note
Frequency adverbs of the type poprvé (for the first time) follow this pattern:
po + stem of an ordinal numeral + -é
- poprvé
- podruhé
- potřetí
- počtvrté
- popáté
- pošesté
- posedmé ...
Two possible spellings are:
po prvé
poprvé
Info
Words expressing frequency, such as dvakrát (twice), několikrát (several times), are traditionally classified as multiplicative numerals in Czech.
Confirmation adverbs¶
| Confirmation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| skutečně | indeed |
| vlastně | actually |
Degree adverbs¶
| Degree | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| docela | - | quite |
| dokonce | - | even |
| dost | - | enough |
| hodně | víc(e) | much, a lot |
| málo | méně | few, little |
| přesně | přesněji | exactly |
| příliš | - | too, overly, excessively |
| spousta 1 | - | plenty of |
| sotva | - | barely |
| stěží | - | hardly |
| tak | - | so |
| také | - | too |
| trochu | - | a bit, a little, slightly |
| úplně | - | entirely, completely |
| velmi | - | very |
| výjimečně | výjimečněji | exceptionally |
Probability adverbs¶
| Probability | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| asi | - | probably, maybe, about |
| možná | - | maybe, possibly |
| pravděpodobně | pravděpodobněji | probably, likely |
| skoro | - | almost |
| téměř | - | almost |
| určitě | - | certainly |
Negative adverbs¶
| Negative | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nikdy | never |
| nikde | nowhere |
| nikam | nowhere (to) |
| odnikud | nowhere (from) |
| nijak | in no way, nohow |
Read more about pro-forms.
Indefinite adverbs¶
| Indefinite | Meaning |
|---|---|
| někdy kdysi |
sometimes |
| kdykoli(v) | anytime |
| někde kdesi |
somewhere |
| kdekoli(v) | anywhere |
| někam kamsi |
somewhere (to) |
| kamkoli(v) | anywhere |
| odněkud odkudsi |
from somewhere |
| odkudkoli(v) | from anywhere |
| nějak jaksi |
somehow |
| jakkoliv | anyhow |
Read more about pro-forms.
Other adverbs¶
| Adverb | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| dohromady | together | totality |
| pouze | only | limitation |
| tak | thus | reason |
| úplně | completely, totally | totality |
| znovu opět |
again | repetition |
| zvlášť | separately | separation |
Comparative and Superlative¶
Adverbs, like adjectives, have comparative and superlative forms, but not all adverbs use them. Typically, time, location, direction, and degree adverbs do not have comparative or superlative forms.
The superlative always follows the formula nej + comparative.
Some comparatives are created synthetically with the help of a suffix (pomalu → pomaleji), sometimes a periphrastic principle is used (nahoře → víc nahoře).
Some comparatives are irregular, e.g.:
- dobře → lépe (coll. líp)
- špatně → hůř(e)
- málo → méně (coll. míň)
- hodně → víc(e)
Note
We recommend searching in Příručka to find the comparative/superlative form of the adverb you need.