Modal Adverbs (Modaladverbien) 🏃
Learn German modal adverbs (Modaladverbien): manner (schnell, langsam, gern, leise) and degree (sehr, ziemlich, fast, wirklich) — answering wie and wie sehr, and why German usually uses the same word for the adjective and the adverb.
📍 Modal Adverbs (Modaladverbien) 🏃
Modal adverbs describe how something happens or to what degree.
Adverbien
│
├── 🕐 Temporaladverbien
│ └── heute, gestern, morgen, später
│
├── 📍 Lokaladverbien
│ └── hier, dort, draußen, oben
│
├── 🎯 Modaladverbien
│ └── gern, schnell, langsam, anders
│
├── 🔗 Konjunktionaladverbien
│ └── deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem, daher
│
└── ❓ Interrogativadverbien
└── wann, wo, warum, wie
Modal Adverbs answer questions like:
- 🏃 Wie? (How?)
- 📈 Wie sehr? (How much? / To what extent?)
Modal adverbs describe how an action is performed.
Er fährt schnell.
Sie spricht leise.
Ich lerne gern Deutsch.
💡 Tip
Most German adverbs look exactly like adjectives.
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| ein schnelles Auto | Das Auto fährt schnell. |
| eine laute Musik | Die Musik spielt laut. |
| ein guter Koch | Er kocht gut. |
Unlike English:
- quick → quickly
- loud → loudly
German usually uses the same word.
- schnell → schnell
- laut → laut
- langsam → langsam
🏃 Manner (Wie?)
Answers: How?

| Emoji | Adverb | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⚡ | schnell | quickly, fast | Er läuft schnell. | He runs fast. |
| 🐢 | langsam | slowly | Sie spricht langsam. | She speaks slowly. |
| 😊 | gern | gladly, like to | Ich spiele gern Fußball. | I like playing football. |
| 🎯 | genau | exactly | Du hast genau recht. | You are exactly right. |
| 🔄 | anders | differently | Heute machen wir es anders. | Today we'll do it differently. |
| 👍 | gut | well | Er kocht gut. | He cooks well. |
| 👎 | schlecht | badly | Sie singt schlecht. | She sings badly. |
| 🤫 | leise | quietly | Bitte sprich leise. | Please speak quietly. |
| 🔊 | laut | loudly | Die Kinder lachen laut. | The children laugh loudly. |
📈 Degree (Wie sehr?)
Answers: How much? / To what extent?

| Emoji | Adverb | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🚀 | sehr | very | Das ist sehr gut. | That is very good. |
| 📊 | ziemlich | quite, fairly | Das Buch ist ziemlich interessant. | The book is quite interesting. |
| 🔥 | äußerst | extremely | Das war äußerst schwierig. | That was extremely difficult. |
| 🥛 | ganz | completely, quite | Ich bin ganz müde. | I am completely tired. |
| 🚰 | fast | almost | Wir sind fast fertig. | We're almost finished. |
| 🛑 | genug | enough | Du hast genug gegessen. | You've eaten enough. |
| 💯 | wirklich | really | Das ist wirklich schön. | That is really beautiful. |
| 🤔 | vielleicht | perhaps, maybe | Vielleicht kommt er später. | Maybe he'll come later. |
Related: Adverbs Overview · Sentence Adverbs · Adjectives · Grammar Roadmap
