Hindi Adverb Definition, Types in English & Examples

Adverb:

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses). Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)

An adverb may precede an adjective, a verb, and sometimes another adverb as a qualifier or modifier.

Preceding an adjective

1. वह मेरा बहुत अच्छा दोस्त है।

vah meraa bahut acchaa dost hai.

He is my very good friend.

Preceding a verb

2. मेरा दोस्त रोज़ आता है।

meraa dost roz aataa hai.

My friend comes daily.

Preceding another adverb

3. वह कल बहुत तेज़ दौड़ा।

vah kal bahut tez doudaa.

He ran very fast yesterday.

1. Types of Adverbs:

Adverbs can be classified by form or function. By function, adverbs can be grouped into the following subclasses.

(a) Adverbs of time/duration: आज aaj 'today,' कल kal 'yesterday,' सुबह subah 'morning.'

(b) Adverbs of place or direction: अंदर andar 'in/inside,' बाहर baahar 'out/outside.'

(c) Adverbs of manner: आसानी से aasaanee se 'easily,' धीरे- धीरे dheere- dheere 'slowly.'

(d) Adverbs of reason: गरीबी के कारण gareebee ke kaaran 'for the reason of poverty,' कमज़ोरी के कारण kamzoriee ke kaaran 'for the reason of weakness.'

(e) Adverbs of instrument: कलम से kalam se 'with pen,' चाकू से chakoo se 'with knife.'

(f) Adverbs of purpose: पढ़ने के लिए padne ke liye 'for reading,' काम के लिए kaam ke liye for work.'

(g) Comitative: X –के साथ -ke saath 'with/ in the company of X,' and

(h) Adverbs of degree/intensity: बहुत bahut 'very,' काफी kaaphee 'enough,' विरला ही कोई virlaa hee koyee 'hardly any,' लगभग lagbhag 'approximately.'

By form, adverbs can be classified into the following subgroups: (a) basic or non-derived adverbs, (b) derived adverbs, (c) phrasal adverbs, (d) reduplicated adverbs, and (e) particles.

(a) The basic or non-derived adverbs may be either pure adverbs like आज aaj 'today,' सदा sadaa/ हमेशा hameshaa 'always,' or may be formed by adding the postposition se to nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

4. वह हमेशा अच्छी मेहनत करता है।

vah hameshaa acchiee mehnat kartaa hai.

He always works very hard.

5.उसने अपना काम खुशी से किया।

usne apnaa kaam khushee se kiyaa.

She did her work very happily.

6. नीचे से ऊपर अच्छा दिखता है।

neece se oopar acchaa dikhtaa hai.

It looks better at the top than at the bottom.

7. बाहर से अंदर अधिक ठंड़ा है।

baahar se andar adhik dadaa hai.

It is colder inside than outside.

8. उसने एकदम से मेरा हाथ पकड़ा।

usne ekdam se meraa haath pakdaa.

He caught hold of my hand at once.

9. मैंने झट से उसकी बात मान ली।

maine jhat se uskee baat maan lee.

I agreed with what he said immediately.

(b) Derived adverbs are formed by adding adverbial suffixes to the base form of demonstrative, relative, correlative, and interrogative pronouns. Locative adverbs are formed by adding the –ई -ee/ -आं पर - aa par suffixes: यहाँ yahan/ यहीं पर yaheen (par) 'here,' वहाँ vahaan/ वहीं vaheen/ वहाँ ही vahaan hee 'there,' कहाँ kahaan/ कहीं kaheen 'where.' Directional adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -से -se/-की -kee or as in यहाँ से yahaan se/इधर से idhar se 'in this direction,' वहाँ से vahaan se/ वहाँ की ओर vahaan kee or/ उधर से udhar se 'in that direction', कहाँ से kahaan se/ कहाँ की ओर kahaan kee or 'in which direction.' Manner adverbs are formed by adding the suffixes –तरह tarah/प्रकार prakaar as in इस तरह is tarah/ इस प्रकार is prakaar 'in this manner,' उस तरह us tarah/ उस प्रकार us prakaar 'in that manner,' किस तरह kis tarah 'in which manner.'

(c) Phrasal adverbs are formed by adding a simple or a compound postposition to a noun.

10. वह तीन दिन के बाद्र / पश्चात आया।

vah teen din ke baad/pashchaat aayaa.

He came after three days.

11. उसने पढ़ने से पहले अपनी ऐनक साफ़ की।

usne patne se pahale apnee yenak saaf kee.

He cleaned his glasses before reading the letter.

12. हमारे घर के पीछे एक बड़ा पार्क है।

hamaare ghar ke peeche ek badaa paark hai.

There is a big park behind our house.

(c) Phrasal adverbs are formed by adding a simple or a compound postposition to a noun.

(d) Adverbs can be reduplicated to show intensity and distribution:

धीरे- धीरे dheere- dheere 'slowly,' तेज़, - तेज़, tez- tez 'fast', कहाँ - कहाँ kahaan-kahaan'where', कभी - कभी kabhee – kabhee 'sometimes.'

13. वह धीरे - धीरे / तेर्ज़- तेज़ चलता है।

vah dheere- dheere/tez- tez chaltaa hai.

He walks slowly/quickly.

14. पता नहीं वह कहाँ- कहाँ गया।

pataa nahee vah kahaan - kahaan gayaa.

One doesn't know which places did he go to?

Reduplicated adverbs may be separated by the negative particle na to express indefiniteness: कभी न कभी kabhee na kabhee 'sometime or other.'

15. कभी न कभी वह अपनी गल्ती मानेगी।.

kabhee na kabhee vah apnee galtee maanegee.

He will realize his mistake some day.

2. Expressions of Time:

2.1. General Time Expressions:

General time expressions employ nouns in the direct and oblique cases. The dative sufix को ko is added to adverbs of time, such as दुपहर duphar 'noon,' शाम shaam 'evening,' रात raat 'night,' दिन din 'day,' कल kal 'tomorrow/yesterday.'

1. आप दुपहर को आइए।

aap duphar ko aayiye.

Please come at noon.

2. रात को अधिक गर्मी नहीं रहती।

raat ko adhik garmee nahee rahtee.

It is not very hot during the night.

2. Time of Day:

Time of day is expressed by बजे baje. It is used in reporting time and not in expressions such as एक घंटे के बाद ek ghante ke baad 'after one hour.' In such cases, घंटा ghantaa 'hour' is used in the oblique case with a postposition.

3. वह दफ़्तर से दस बजे आई।

vah daftar se das baje aayee.

She came from the office at ten o'clock.

4. वह दो घंटे के बाद आई।

vah do ghante ke baad aayee.

She came after two hours.

The expressions 'quarter,' 'three-quarters,' and 'half an hour' precede the numerals.

5. वह सवा / पौने / साड़े चार बजे गया।

vah savaa /poune/saade chaar baje gayaa.

He went at quarter past/quarter to/half past four.

Expressons indicating minutes before the hour add the dative suffix to the infinitive of the verb followed by the postposition में mei 'in'. The expression कम kam 'less' also is used.

6. वह छे बजने में दस मिनट पर आया।

vah che bajne mei das minat par aayaa.

He came at ten minutes to six.

6a. वह दस मिनट कम छे बजे आया।

vah das minat kam che baje aayaa.

He came at ten minutes to six.

Two types of expressions are used to ask for the time.

7. सनय क्या हुआ / है?

samay kyaa huaa/hai?

What time is it?

7a. कितने बज गए?

kitne baj gaye?

What time is it?

2.3. Period of Day:

Periods of day are usually expressed by various nouns in the direct or oblique case with or without postpositions: सवेरे - सवेरे saver (savere) 'early in the morning,' रात को raat ko 'during the night', दिन में din mei 'during the day,' देर से der se 'late.' Other frequent expressions are: प्राता काल praata kaal 'eary in the morning,' संध्या sandhyaa 'dusk/evening,' दोपहर dophar 'noon', दोपहर के बाद dophar ke baad 'afternoon.'

2.4. Days of the Week:

The days of the week are:

• सोमवार somvaar Monday
• मंगलवार mangalvaar Tuesday
• बुधवार budhvaar Wednesday
• गुरूवार guruvaar Thursday
• शुक्रवार shkrvaar Friday
• शनिवार shanivaar/shaneecar vaar Saturday
• रविवार / इतवार ravivaar/itvaar Sunday

2.5. Months of the Year

Months are expressed in both indigenous and English forms.

1. Hindi months

• वैसाख vaisaakh April-May
• ज्येष्ठ jyesth May-June
• अषाढ़, asaadh June-July
• श्रावन shraavan July-August
• भाद्र bhaadr August-September
• आशिवन aashivan September-October
• कार्तिक kaartik October-November
• मार्ग maarg November-December
• पौष poush December-January
• माघ maagh January-February
• फाल्गुन phaalgun February-March
• चैत्र caitra March-April

2. English nativized versions: जनवरी janvaree, फरवरी pharvaree,मार्च maarch, अप्रिल april, मई maee, जून joon, जुलई julay, अगस्त agast, सितम्बर sitambar, अक्तोबर aktobar, नवंबर navambar, दिसंबर disambar.

2.6. Year:

In Hindi, a reference to a year is usually to the year AD called ईस्वी eesvee. Hindus refer to their indigenous calendar as बिक्रमी bikrami or शाक shaak and Muslims as हिजरी hijree. The term सन् san used before the Christian year, is optionally followed by ईस्वी eesvee. Similarly, an indigenous year starts with संवत samvat before the year and ends with बिक्रमी bikrami.

8. सन् उनीस सौ साठ ईस्वी में

san unees sau saath eesvee mei

in the year 1960 AD

9. संवत् दो हज़ार साठ बिक्रमी में

samvat do hazaar saath bikrami mei

in the year 2060 Bikrami

The terms ईसा eesaa पूर्व eesa poorv 'before Christ' are used to denote BC.

10. ईसा पूर्व छे सौ वर्षं

eesaa poorv che sou varsh

six hundred years before Christ

2.7. Seasons

There are five major seasons: वसंद vasant 'spring,' ग्रीशम greesm 'summer,' बरसात barsaat 'rainy season', शरद sharad 'autumn,' and शीतकाल sheetkaal 'winter.' These terms can be followed by? तु ritu/ मौसम mousam 'season' in both the direct and oblique cases with or without a postposition.

11. वसंत (ऋतु) में फूल खिलते हैं।

vasant (ritu) mei phool khilte hai.

Flowers bloom during spring.

3. Frequentative:

In grammar, a frequentative form (abbreviated FREQ or FR) of a word is one that indicates repeated action, but is not to be confused with iterative aspect. The frequentative form can be considered a separate but not completely independent word called a frequentative. The frequentative is no longer productive in English, but still is in some language groups, such as Finno-Ugric, Balto-Slavic, Turkic, etc.

Frequentative expressions employ reduplication, an emphatic particle, or प्रति prati/ हर har 'every' before a time expression.

रोज़ रोज़ roz roz every day

प्रति दिन prati din every day

हर घंटे har gante every hour

रात भर raat bhar whole night

वहर पल vahar pal every moment

12. वह रोज़ रोज़ / प्रति दिन पैसे माँगता है।

vah roz roz/ prati din paise maagtaa hai.

He asks for money daily.