Adverbs in Latin

Learn well, understand quickly. (These are adverbs)

 Today we're looking at Latin adverbs. In the next fortnight or so I will post an article on Comparative and Superlative adverbs, so make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it!

So first of all, what is an adverb?

In a similar way to how an adjective describes a noun, an adverb describes a verb (the clue is in the name!). They explain how a verb took place.

We usually translate them in English using the suffix -ly. For example, happily, sadly, quickly. These all describe how a verb occurred.

Forming an adverb

They are often formed from an adjective. Even in English.

• happy becomes happily

• sad becomes sadly

• quick becomes quickly

If you're not sure about adjectives in Latin, I've got two posts about them on my blog. There's my 2-1-2 adjectives here, and my 3-3 adjectives here.

Two types of adverbs

Now from these titles, you may have noticed there are two different types of adjective. There's 2-1-2 adjectives and there's 3-3 adjectives.

Adverbs from 2-1-2 adjectives

Look at a 2-1-2 adjective:

laetus, laeta, laetum

This adjective means “happy”. It goes like the second declension for masculine nouns (laetus), first declension (laeta) for feminine nouns, and second declension neuter endings (laetum) for neuter nouns.

To make this into an adverb, look at these endings -us, -a, -um, and take them away. You are left with the stem laet-.

From here, to make it into an adverb, just add an -e.

So laete means happily.

That's it. That's as easy as it is for 2-1-2 adjectives.

Other 2-1-2 adverbs examples

• saevus “savage” = saeve, “savagely”

• pulcher “beautiful” = pulcre, “beautifully” or “finely”

• malus “bad” or “evil” = male, “badly” or “evilly”

• quietus “quiet” = quiete, “quietly”

Adverbs from 3-3 adjectives

Now I said there are two types of adjectives. There's also 3-3 adjectives. To make an adverb, take a 3-3 adjective:

ferox, ferocis

This is the nominative and the genitive singular. This is what it will look like in your dictionary. This means fierce.

Again look at the ending, in this case at the genitive, and take off the -is to get the stem: feroc-.

All you do for a 3-3 adjective is add -iter onto the end.

ferociter, which means fiercely.

Other 3-3 adverb examples

• fortis, “brave” = fortiter, “bravely”

• acer, “harsh” or “sharp” = acriter, “harshly” or “sharply”

  We get the word acrid from that.

• fidelis, “faithful” = fideliter, “faithfully” or “loyally”

• sapiens, “wise” = sapientiter, “wisely”

They’re the only endings

Now, as you can see from these, they do not change. They do not decline. All that is different is whether they come from a 2-1-2 adjective or a 3-3 adjective. So you will either see an -e on the end or you'll see -iter and they are your adverbs.

What have we learned?

So just as a recap:

• an adverb describes a verb

• we usually translate it in English using -ly as a suffix

• they are often formed from an adjective.

Extra help

Now, although adverbs in Latin don't decline, you don't need to know what case they are all in, you do need to know your 2-1-2 and your 3-3 endings so that you can tell which ending you are going to need for an adverb. To help you with that, download my free noun endings guide from here. It's got all the endings for the first, second, and third declensions that you will need to help you figure out which group of adjectives your adverb comes from.

Thanks so much for joining me, and I'll see you next time on bambasbat.