adverbial

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis. By surface analysis, adverb +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ædˈvɝbi.əl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ədˈvɜːbi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

adverbial (comparative more adverbial, superlative most adverbial)

1. (grammar) Of or relating to an adverb.
   • 1876, “Ad′verb”, in John M[erry] Ross, editor, The Globe Enyclopædia of Universal Information, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Estes & Lauriat, […], page 25, column 1:

     As we can have the adjectival forms bright, brighter, brightest, so we can have the adverbial forms brightly, brightlier, brightliest, but degree is alike inconceivable in the adjective ‘round,’ and the A. ‘here.’

   • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 9, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 495:

     And in (123) below, a (bracketed) Adverbial Phrase has undergone WH MOVEMENT:
     (123) (a)      [How quickly] will he drink the beer —?
     (123) (b)      [How carefully] did he plan his campaign —?
     (123) (c)      [How well] did he treat her —?

Derived terms

• adverbial accusative
• adverbial adjunct
• adverbial case
• adverbial clause
• adverbial genitive
• adverbialism
• adverbialist
• adverbiality
• adverbialization
• adverbialize
• adverbially
• adverbialness
• adverbial number
• adverbial of time
• adverbial participle
• adverbial particle
• adverbial phrase
• nonadverbial
• preadverbial
• time adverbial

Translations

of or relating to an adverb

• Albanian: ndajfoljor (sq)
• Armenian: մակբայական (hy) (makbayakan)
• Bulgarian: адвербиа́лен (adverbiálen), наре́чен (bg) (naréčen)
• Catalan: adverbial (ca)
• Czech: příslovečný
• Dutch: bijwoordelijk (nl), adverbiaal (nl)
• Finnish: adverbiaalinen (fi)
• French: adverbial (fr)
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: bywurdlik

• Galician: adverbial
• German: adverbial (de), (rarer form) adverbiell (de), Adverbial-, umstandswörtlich, nebenwörtlich
• Greek: επιρρηματικός (el) (epirrimatikós)
• Hungarian: határozói (hu)
• Italian: avverbiale
• Japanese: 副詞類
• Korean: 부사형(副詞形) (ko) (busahyeong)
• Macedonian: прилошки (priloški)
• Polish: przysłówkowy (pl), adwerbialny (pl)
• Portuguese: adverbial (pt)
• Romanian: adverbial (ro)
• Russian: наре́чный (ru) (naréčnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: адвербан, приложни

  Latin: adverban (sh), priložni (sh)

• Slovene: prislóven
• Spanish: adverbial (es)
• Swedish: adverbiell (sv)
• Tagalog: makaabay
• Ukrainian: прислівнико́вий (pryslivnykóvyj)
• Volapük: ladvärbik (vo)
• Welsh: adferfol (cy)

Noun

adverbial (plural adverbials)

2. (grammar) An adverbial word or phrase.

Usage notes

Although traditional metalanguage often uses adverbial as a noun and will call a prepositional phrase an adverb, some authorities in linguistics avoid these usages, saying instead (more precisely) that the phrase under discussion functions adverbially in that context.

Derived terms

• predicative adverbial
• time frequency adverbial

Related terms

• adverbially (adverb)

Translations

grammar: word or phrase modifying a verb

• Arabic: ظَرْف m (ẓarf)
• Armenian: պարագա (hy) (paraga)
• Azerbaijani: zərflik
• Belarusian: акалі́чнасць f (akalíčnascʹ), акалі́чнасьць f (akalíčnasʹcʹ)
• Bulgarian: обстоя́телствено поясне́ние n (obstojátelstveno pojasnénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狀語 / 状语 (zh) (zhuàngyǔ); (adverb) 副詞 / 副词 (zh) (fùcí)

• Czech: příslovečné určení n
• Estonian: määrus
• Finnish: adverbiaali (fi)
• French: complément adverbial m
• German: Umstandsbestimmung (de) f, Adverbialbestimmung (de) f, adverbiale Bestimmung (de) f, Adverbial (de) n, Adverbiale (de) n
• Hungarian: határozó (hu)
• Icelandic: atviksliður (is) m
• Italian: circostanziale m
• Japanese: (adverb) 副詞 (ja) (ふくし, fukushi), 副詞句 (ふくしく, fukushiku), 副詞節 (ふくしせつ, fukushisetsu)
• Kazakh: пысықтауыш (pısıqtawıš)
• Korean: 부사절(副詞節) (busajeol)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: байц (mn) (bajc)

• Polish: okolicznik (pl) m
• Portuguese: adverbial (pt) m
• Russian: обстоя́тельство (ru) n (obstojátelʹstvo), (adverb) наре́чие (ru) n (naréčije), адвербиа́л (ru) m (adverbiál)
• Slovak: príslovkové určenie n
• Slovene: prislovno določilo n
• Spanish: complemento circunstancial m
• Swedish: adverbial (sv) n
• Tajik: ҳол (tg) (hol)
• Ukrainian: обста́вина f (obstávyna)

Further reading

• adverbial on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [əd.bər.biˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əd.vər.biˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ad.veɾ.biˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ad.ber.biˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

adverbial m or f (masculine and feminine plural adverbials)

1. adverbial

Derived terms

• adverbialment

Related terms

• adverbi

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “adverbial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “adverbial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “adverbial”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ad.vɛʁ.bjal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophones: adverbiale, adverbiales

Adjective

adverbial (feminine adverbiale, masculine plural adverbiaux, feminine plural adverbiales)

1. adverbial

Derived terms

• adverbialement
• locution adverbiale

Related terms

• adverbe

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Proto-Indo-European *werh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom

Proto-Italic *werðom

▲

Ancient Greek ῥῆμᾰ (rhêmă)sl.

Latin verbum

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -iusnom.

Latin -ium

▲

Ancient Greek ἐπῐ́ρρημα (epĭ́rrhēma)calq.?

Latin adverbi(um)

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ial

Latin adverbiālislbor.

Galician adverbial

Learned borrowing from Latin adverbiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /adbɛɾˈbjal/ [að̞.β̞ɛɾˈβ̞jɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ad‧ver‧bial

Adjective

adverbial m or f (plural adverbiais)

1. adverbial (of or relating to an adverb)

Derived terms

• adverbialmente

Related terms

• adverbio

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

German

Etymology

Adverb +‎ -ial

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔatvɛɐ̯ˈbi̯aːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

adverbial (strong nominative masculine singular adverbialer, not comparable)

1. adverbial

Declension

Positive forms of adverbial (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist adverbial	sie ist adverbial	es ist adverbial	sie sind adverbial
strong declension (without article)	nominative	adverbialer	adverbiale	adverbiales	adverbiale
	genitive	adverbialen	adverbialer	adverbialen	adverbialer
	dative	adverbialem	adverbialer	adverbialem	adverbialen
	accusative	adverbialen	adverbiale	adverbiales	adverbiale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der adverbiale	die adverbiale	das adverbiale	die adverbialen
	genitive	des adverbialen	der adverbialen	des adverbialen	der adverbialen
	dative	dem adverbialen	der adverbialen	dem adverbialen	den adverbialen
	accusative	den adverbialen	die adverbiale	das adverbiale	die adverbialen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein adverbialer	eine adverbiale	ein adverbiales	(keine) adverbialen
	genitive	eines adverbialen	einer adverbialen	eines adverbialen	(keiner) adverbialen
	dative	einem adverbialen	einer adverbialen	einem adverbialen	(keinen) adverbialen
	accusative	einen adverbialen	eine adverbiale	ein adverbiales	(keine) adverbialen

Further reading

• “adverbial” in Duden online
• “adverbial”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French adverbial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /advɛːbjal/

Adjective

adverbial

1. adverbial

Related terms

• adverb

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

adverbial n (definite singular adverbialet, indefinite plural adverbial or adverbialer, definite plural adverbiala or adverbialene)

1. adverbial (adverbial clause)

References

• “adverbial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

adverbial n (definite singular adverbialet, indefinite plural adverbial, definite plural adverbiala)

1. adverbial (adverbial clause)

References

• “adverbial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Proto-Indo-European *werh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom

Proto-Italic *werðom

▲

Ancient Greek ῥῆμᾰ (rhêmă)sl.

Latin verbum

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -iusnom.

Latin -ium

▲

Ancient Greek ἐπῐ́ρρημα (epĭ́rrhēma)calq.?

Latin adverbi(um)

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ial

Latin adverbiālisbor.

Portuguese adverbial

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis. By surface analysis, advérbio +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒi.veʁ.biˈaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɦ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /a.d͡ʒi.veʁˈbjaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɦˈbjaʊ̯], /ad͡ʒ.veʁ.biˈaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɦ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /ad͡ʒ.veʁˈbjaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɦˈbjaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒi.veʁ.biˈaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɦ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /a.d͡ʒi.veʁˈbjaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɦˈbjaʊ̯], /ad͡ʒ.veʁ.biˈaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɦ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /ad͡ʒ.veʁˈbjaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɦˈbjaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒi.veɾ.biˈaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɾ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /a.d͡ʒi.veɾˈbjaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɾˈbjaʊ̯], /ad͡ʒ.veɾ.biˈaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɾ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /ad͡ʒ.veɾˈbjaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɾˈbjaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒi.veʁ.biˈaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veʁ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /a.d͡ʒi.veʁˈbjaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veʁˈbjaʊ̯], /ad͡ʒ.veʁ.biˈaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veʁ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /ad͡ʒ.veʁˈbjaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veʁˈbjaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒi.veɻ.biˈaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɻ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /a.d͡ʒi.veɻˈbjaw/ [a.d͡ʒi.veɻˈbjaʊ̯], /ad͡ʒ.veɻ.biˈaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɻ.biˈaʊ̯], (faster) /ad͡ʒ.veɻˈbjaw/ [ad͡ʒ.veɻˈbjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐd.vɨɾˈbjal/ [ɐð.vɨɾˈβjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐd.vɨɾˈbjal/ [ɐð.vɨɾˈβjaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐd.bɨɾˈbjal/ [ɐð.βɨɾˈβjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐd.vɨɾˈbja.li/

Adjective

adverbial m or f (plural adverbiais)

1. adverbial (of or relating to an adverb)

Derived terms

• adverbialmente

Related terms

• advérbio

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “adverbial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “adverbial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French adverbial, from Latin adverbiālis. By surface analysis, adverb +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ad.ver.biˈal/

Adjective

adverbial m or n (feminine singular adverbială, masculine plural adverbiali, feminine/neuter plural adverbiale)

1. adverbial

Declension

Declension of adverbial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	adverbial		adverbială	adverbiali	adverbiale
	definite	adverbialul		adverbiala	adverbialii	adverbialele
genitive- dative	indefinite	adverbial		adverbiale	adverbiali	adverbiale
	definite	adverbialului		adverbialei	adverbialilor	adverbialelor

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Proto-Indo-European *werh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom

Proto-Italic *werðom

▲

Ancient Greek ῥῆμᾰ (rhêmă)sl.

Latin verbum

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -iusnom.

Latin -ium

▲

Ancient Greek ἐπῐ́ρρημα (epĭ́rrhēma)calq.?

Latin adverbi(um)

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ial

Latin adverbiālisbor.

Spanish adverbial

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /adbeɾˈbjal/ [að̞.β̞eɾˈβ̞jal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ad‧ver‧bial

Adjective

adverbial m or f (masculine and feminine plural adverbiales)

1. adverbial

Derived terms

• adverbialmente
• locución adverbial

Related terms

• adverbio

Further reading

• “adverbial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ad.vɛr.biˈɑːl/
• Rhymes: -ɑːl

Noun

adverbial n

1. an adverbial word or phrase

Declension

Declension of adverbial

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	adverbial	adverbials
	definite	adverbialet	adverbialets
plural	indefinite	adverbial	adverbials
	definite	adverbialen	adverbialens

Related terms

• adverbialsats
• rumsadverbial

Further reading

• adverbial in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (14th ed., online)