Reference 6: Adverbs

{| style="background:#cfffff;border:3px solid #006600;" width="100%" height="100%"

Position in a sentence
Adverbs must be near the word they modify:

"Iċ hrāþe ēode forþ." - "I quickly went forth."

The formation of adverbs
Adverbs are usually formed from adjectives by adding -e or -līċe:
 * -e: sōþ true, real - sōþe truly, really, actually
 * -līċe: lēoht light, unweighty - lēohtlīċe lightly, slenderly

A lesser amount are made by adding -unga/-unge or -an (usually meaning from, as in norþ north - norþ-an from the north): Adverbs can be formed from nouns by the use of cases, usually dative, but also instrumental and genetive:
 * -unga: derne secret, hidden - dernunga secretly
 * -an: nīƿe new - nīƿan(e) recently, newly


 * Dative: hƿīl a time, a while - hƿīlum sometimes, at one time
 * Genitive: dæġ day - dæġes by day

There are a few very common ones which are words in their own right and are not formed from other words, and therefore usually do not follow the above patterns:


 * nū - now
 * þa/þā - then
 * þær - there
 * hider - hither
 * þider - thither
 * hēr - here
 * heonan - hence
 * sōna - soon/directly
 * oft - often
 * eft - back/again
 * sƿā - so

Comparative and superlative
Most adverbs drops the -e ending of the positive and add -or for the comparative and -ost for the superlative:


 * sōþe truly, really - sōþor more truly - sōþost most truly
 * lēohtlīċe lightly - lēohtlīċor more lightly - lēohtlīċost most lightly
 * dernunga secretly - dernungor more secretly - dernungost most secretly

Etc, but a few form the comparative with the i-mutation and take no ending and form the superlative with the i-mutation and take an -est ending:


 * lang long - leng longer - lengest longest

To compare between two things, use "þonne" where we would use "then" in Modern English, or you can use the dative case, but this might cause confusion:


 * "Iċ sang leng þonne þū sunge!" - "I sang longer than you sang!"

To use the superlative to compare between more than two things, use the genitive or the preposition "of" with the appropriate case:

"Iċ sang lengest of eallra þāra manna!" - "I sang the longest out of all the men!"

"As...as..."
Usually, to say "as...as...", you simply use "sƿā...sƿā..." in place of their Modern English equivalents:


 * "Iċ sang sƿā lang sƿā þū." - "I sang as long as you."|}|}