Adverbs – GCSE Classical Greek OCR Revision

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
They describe where, when, how, why, or to what degree something happens.
In Greek, many adverbs are formed from adjectives, often by adding -ως to the masculine or feminine accusative singular form.
For example, the adjective καλός (beautiful) can become the adverb καλῶς (beautifully).

Some come in three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.
Comparative adverbs often end in -τερον or -ίων and compare two actions.
Superlative adverbs often end in -τατα or -ιστα and compare more than two actions.
For example, πρῶτον is the positive degree (first), πρότερον is the comparative degree (earlier), and πρώτιστον is the superlative degree (first of all).

Adverbs generally go close to the word they are modifying.
If they modify a verb, they are usually place before the verb.
However, this isn’t a hard rule and adverb placement can change the emphasis of a sentence.

Sometimes, a group of words can act as an adverb, known as an adverbial phrase.
An adverbial clause is a group of words with a subject and verb that acts as an adverb.
For example, ὥστε βασιλεύς εἶναι means ‘so as to be a king’. It modifies the verb in the main sentence, and functions as an adverb.

Some common adverbs include οὖν (therefore), δέ (but, and), μέν (on the one hand), ἤ (or), ἄν (if, would), νῦν (now), and ποτέ (ever).
Greek verbs are often left unstated and must be inferred from context. Adverbs can provide important clues to the missing verb’s meaning.
Greek also makes use of adverbial participles, which are verb forms that function as adverbs. They often explain the circumstances under which the main action of the sentence took place.
Used appropriately, adverbs offer rich modifiers in Greek to help express detailed and nuanced ideas.