3. General

4. Groups of adverbs

5. General

The term ‘adverb’ encompasses many lexical items and constructions that may not immediately be identified as an adverb by the student of any given language. The term is first and foremost applied to words (adjectival in origin) that modify verbs (and adjectives), as opposed to adjectives, which modify nouns: ‘He spoke quietly’, ‘We wrote clearly’. An entire range of forms is added to this basic adverbial group, forms which in some way or other describe or set the stage for an action; this includes expressions of time (when?), place (where?), manner (how?), and the like. Each of these sets of forms is listed in the following sections. The use of the adverb is described in brief (with examples) where this is not immediately clear; two particular sets of forms that receive more in-depth treatment are those of (i) time expres­sions (excluding formations involving numerals such as dates and years), and (ii) modal and impersonal expressions; the latter are described here because many of them are centred upon adverbs or adverb-like elements.

6. Groups of adverbs

DEADJECTIVAL ADVERBS: FORMATION

Adverbs formed from hard-stem adjectives end primarily in –o, although a small group is characterized by the ending –e (identical in form to the neuter N.sg adjectival ending):

добре well

задобре too well

зле badly

дешево cheaply

швидко quickly

високо highly, greatly

широко widely

весело happily

виразно clearly, distinctly

чисто cleanly

глухо dully

вузько narrowly

The majority of adjectives in –ний will occur with the marker –o, although a few may be found with both –o and –e, with no change in meaning:

дрібно minutely, in detail

певно certainly, surely, probably

рівно straight, evenly, equally

складно with difficulty

очевидно evidently

виразно distinctly

даремно in vain, vainly

таємно secretly, mysteriously

щоденно daily

неодмінно without fail

законно legally, according to the law

неймовірно improbably

умисно intentionally

елегантно elegantly

смішно comically

but also:

певне

даремне

умисне

конечне

Adverbs formed from the few soft-stem adjectives also occur with –o, with the softness of the preceding consonant expressed in writing by means of the soft sign:

достатній – достатньо abundantly, plentifully

середньо pertaining to the middle

самобутньо originally

художньо artistically

могутньо mightily

USE OF THE DEADJECTIVAL ADVERB

As a rule, the adverb in –o or –e occurs before the verb which it is modifying unless special emphasis is required (for example, with imperatives or in ques­tions), in which case it may occur as the last element of a statement:

Він погано грає на скрипці.

Не plays the violin badly.

Батько добре говорить польскою (мовою).

Father speaks Polish well.

But:

Будь ласка, говоріть повільно!

Please speak slowly!

Чи дідусь поверне додому пізно!

Is grandfather returning home late?

‘IT’ IS … – IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS

The adverb by itself (that is, when not modifying a verb) can express a state or condition that is expressed in English by means of the pleonastic ‘it’:

Тут тепло. It’s warm here.

Сьогодні холодно. It’s cold today.

Вже пізно – поспішай! It’s already late – hurry!

Варто пам’ятати, що … It’s worth remembering that.. .

Добре, що ти прийшов. It’s good that you came.

Дуже приємно! Very pleased (to meet you)! (lit. ‘It is very pleasing. . .’)

This use of the adverb may be termed ‘impersonal’, as there is no subject involved; when a person is indicated, however, the one to whom reference is made will occur in the dative case:

Мені холодно. I’m cold (lit. ‘It is cold to me’).

Йому (батькові) жарко. He’s (father’s) hot.

Нам усім дуже приємно … We are all very pleased . . .

Валі тяжко на серці. Valya’s heart is heavy.

Мені цікаво. І am interested, curious.

NUMERICAL ADVERBS

Adverbs can be formed from numerals as well, in particular from the ordinal numerals, which are adjectival in form. Note that these consist of the numeral + the formant –e; the basic adverb will have a hyphenated prefix пo- (‘-ly’)> while the prefix y- imparts the sense ‘for the Xth time’:

по-перше firstly, in the first place

уперше for the first time, firstly

по-друге in the second place, secondly, after all

удруге for the second time

по-третє thirdly, in the third place

утретє for the third time

по-четверте fourthly, in the fourth place

учетверте for the fourth time

по-п’яте fifthly, in the fifth place

уп’яте for the fifth time

Adverbs can also be formed from the collective numerals by means of prefix –ation alone; in other words, their final vowel is not an adverbial marker, but merely the same vowel that occurs at the end of the original collective form. Note that after ‘four’, it is only the prefix y- that will occur in the standard language.

Вдвоє (у-) twice more, double, twofold

надвоє in two

втроє (у-) three times as much, triply/trebly

натроє in three ways, in three parts

вчетверо (у-) fourfold, four times as much

начетверо in four parts, in four ways

вп’ятеро (у-) fivefold, five times as much

вшестеро (у-) sixfold, six times as much

ADVERBS OF LOCATION

Adverbs of location indicate ‘where?’, ‘place in, to’, and ‘from’; this category, as is also the case with adverbs of time, includes primary (non-derived) adverbs and a large number of derived, or secondary, formations. Such derived forms are by and large composed of prefixal elements + base nouns; as the prefixes were originally prepositions, these adverbs are often marked by the presence of a case ending corresponding to the original preposition (commonly the genitive or locative, but where ‘motion to’ is indicated, the accusative). Among other formations we find an original noun in the instrumental case; whatever the original case form, the new construc­tion is fossilized as an adverb and as such is invariable; compare the same phenomenon among conjunctions.