9.7 - Adverbs

Although this unit focuses primarily on adjectives (words which describe nouns), it is logical to touch briefly on adverbs (words which describe verbs). There are three types of adverb.

Adverbs of time

These describe when an action happens, for example:

Завтра студенти будуть складати екзамен.
Tomorrow the students will be taking an exam.

Some other useful adverbs of time are:

вчора – yesterday	сьогодні – today	щодня – every day
вдень – in the daytime	уночі – at night	вранці – in the morning
зараз – right now	часто – often	інколи – sometimes

Adverbs of place

These describe where an action happens, for example:

Де відбудеться лекція? Тут.
Where will the lecture take place? Here.

Some other useful adverbs of place are:

там – there	туди – (to) there	скрізь – everywhere
вгорі – above	внизу – below	вдома – at home

Adverbs of manner

These describe how an action happens. In Ukrainian, as in English and many other languages, these adverbs are usually formed from adjectives, for example:

Цей поїзд повільний. Він їде повільно.
This is a slow train. It travels slowly.

Most adverbs of manner end in -о, for example:

сильний – strong	сильно – strongly
здоровий – healthy	здорово – healthily
завзятий – enthusiastic	завзято – enthusiastically
дешевий – cheap	дешево – cheaply

Some adverbs of manner have endings in -е. This is usually because they are mixed, with stems in -ж-, -ч-, -ш- or -щ-, for example:

рішучий – determined	рішуче – in a determined manner
ворожий – hostile	вороже – in a hostile manner

This also applies to comparatives and superlatives of adverbs, which usually end in -ше, -ще, etc, for example:

кращий – better	краще – better (how something is done)
міцніший – stronger	міцніше – more strongly
вужчий – narrower	вужче – more narrowly

and also to the adverbs добре – well, дуже – very.

To practise using adverbs, go to Exercise 9.7A.