Chapter 6 | The Adverb

6.1 Main Types of Adverbs

6.1.1

The adverb is used to qualify a verb, verbal noun, adjective, preposition, conjunction or another adverb.

The following are the main types of adverbs according to function —

adverb of manner, e.g., amhlaidh (EN: thus), ar chor ar bith (EN: at all), go breá (EN: well), go dona (EN: badly), go hard (EN: loudly), freisin (EN: also), os íseal (EN: lowly, i.e. whispering_):

Shiúil sí go mall.

She walked slowly.

Tá sí á rá os íseal.

She is saying it lowly.
adverbs of time and frequency, e.g., amárach (EN: tomorrow), anois (EN: now), arís (EN: again), arú inné (EN: the day before yesterday), choíche (EN: ever), Dé Sathairn (EN: on Saturday), go hannamh (EN: rarely), go minic (EN: often), go míosúil (EN: monthly), inné (EN: yesterday), riamh (EN: never):

Beidh sí anseo amárach.

She will be here tomorrow.

Is annamh a fheicim anois iad.

I rarely see them now.
adverbs of place and direction, e.g., abhaile (EN: home), abhus (EN: here), amach (EN: out), amú (EN: in vain), amuigh (EN: outside), ann (EN: there), anseo (EN: here), ansin (EN: then), isteach (EN: inside), ó thuaidh (EN: northwards), siar (EN: westwards), soir (EN: eastwards):

Ní fhaca mé ann í.

I didn’t see her there.

D’imigh sé amach.

He went out.
interrogative adverb (although these clauses are interrogative particles (see 8.5), they are often referred to as interrogative adverbs), e.g., cá (EN: where) (cá bhfuil, cá háit), cad (EN: what) (cad a…, cad as, cad chuige, cad é, cad é mar), cathain (EN: when) (cathain a…), céard (EN: what) (céard a…, céard é), cén (EN: which) (cén chaoi, cén uair), conas (EN: how) (conas a…):

Cá rachaimid?

Where shall we go?

Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?

How are you?
adverb of quantity, e.g., ar fad (EN: for the length of), beagnach (EN: almost), sách (EN: quite):

Níl sé sách te fós.

It’s not quite hot yet.

Bhí sibh beagnach in am.

You were almost on time.
adverb of comparative degree, e.g., níos, ní ba (EN: more or -er):

Tá Seán níos airde ná Máire.

Seán is taller than Mary.

Bhí siad ní ba ghile ná an sneachta.

They were whiter than snow.

Note that níos can be used in all tenses but ní b'/ní ba is only used in the past tense, the past habitual tense and the conditional mood. ní b' is used before an adjective beginning with a vowel or fh- + vowel, e.g., Ba ghá dóibh dréimire níos fearr/ní b’fhearr a fháil anuraidh (EN: it would have been better for them to get a ladder last year); Dá mbeinn bliain níos óige/ní b’óige, d’imreoinn an cluiche (EN: If I were a year younger, I would play the game); and ní ba is used before a consonant, e.g., Bhí na braillíní níos gile/ní ba ghile ná an sneachta (EN: The sheets were whiter than the snow).

emphatic adverb, e.g., féin:

Má bhí sé tuirseach féin, chuaigh sé chuig an Oireachtas.

If he was tired himself, he went to the Oireachtas.

Is ócáid thábhachtach í; beidh an tUachtarán féin ann.

It is an important event; the President himself will be there.

noun used as an adverb in measurement, e.g., ar leithead; ar fad:

Bhí an seomra suite sé mhéadar ar fad.

The room was located six meters in length.

Tá an bóithrín trí mhéadar ar leithead.

The road is three meters in width.
adjective used as an adverb, e.g., gann, gearr:

Bhí siad duine gearr.

They were short a person.

Bhí muid gann i mbainne.

We were short of milk.

adverb used as an adjective, e.g., amach, aniar, anuas, isteach:
(TL Note: Similar constructions do not exist in English. These imply direction or origin. E.g. a literal translation of fear amach would be outwardly man, but that is not idiomatic English. Translations here will just give the meaning without attempting to parallel.)

An bhfeiceann tú an fear amach?

Do you see the man who went out?

Seo chugainn an bhean isteach.

Here comes the woman who came in.

Tá an bhean aniar ar an teilifís.

The woman from the west is on TV.

Tá braon anuas sa seomra codlata.

There is a seepage from above in the bedroom.

Is é Tomás an cliamhain isteach.

Tomás is the man that married into the household.

Tá an ghaoth anoir is an fhearthainn aniar air.

The wind from the east tonight tonight and the rain is from the west.

a noun or a verb based on an adverb, e.g., ganfhiosaíocht, istoícheadóireacht:

Tá an bleachtaire ag ganfhiosaíocht ar gach duine.

The detective is acting surreptitiously to everyone. (ganfhiosach means "secret")

Tá an iomarca istoícheadóireachta ar siúl san áit seo.

There is too much night-activity going on in this place. (istoíche - "at night" + -adóireachta - "activities")

6.2 Adverbs of Manner and Adverbs of Time and Frequency

For the adverbs of manner and the adverbs of time and frequency based on an adjective, in the following contexts go is not added —

in the comparative degree:

go cúramach
(carefully)

→

Tiomáin níos cúramaí amach anseo.
(Drive more carefully later.)

go hard
(loudly)

→

Labhair níos airde feasta.
(Speak louder from now on.)

if the adverb is being qualified by another adverb:

go minic
(often)

→

Níor scrúdaíodh an córas minic go leor.
(The system was not examined often enough.)

go sciobtha
(quickly)

→

Thiomáin sé sciobtha go maith.
(He drove well and quickly.)

if an adjectival adverb comes before the adverb:

go réidh
(smoothly)

→

Déan go deas réidh anois é.
(Do it nicely and smoothly now.)

go flaithiúil
(generously)

→

Roinneadh an bia go fial flaithiúil.
(The food was distributed generously.)

after the adverbs cuibheasach and sách, if they are qualifying a word immediately following them:

go dian
(severely)

→

D’oibrigh sé cuibheasach dian.
(He worked moderately hard.)

go maith
(well)

→

D’imir sí sách maith.
(She played quite well.)

6.3 Adverbs of Place and Direction

**Table 6A** Adverbs of Place
Movement towards the location	The location	Movement from the location
suas Tá sé ag dul suas an staighre. EN: He’s going up the stairs.	thuas — Above Tá sé thuas staighre. EN: He’s up the stairs.	anuas Tá sé ag teacht anuas an staighre. EN: He’s coming from up the stairs.
síos Tá sí ag dul síos an staighre. EN: She’s going down the stairs.	thíos — Below Tá sí thíos staighre. EN: She’s down the stairs.	aníos Tá sí ag teacht aníos an staighre. EN: She’s coming up the stairs.
amach An bhfuil tú ag dul amach don oíche? EN: Are you going out for the night?	amuigh — Outside Tá mé amuigh. EN: I’m outside.	amach Tá sí ag teacht amach chomh fada leat. EN: She’s coming out as far as you.
isteach An bhfuil tú ag dul isteach sa teach? EN: Are you going in the house?	istigh — Inside Is istigh sa teach a tharla an timpiste. EN: The accident happened inside the house.	isteach Tar isteach chugam! EN: Come in to me!

**Table 6B** Adverbs of Direction
Movement towards the location	The location	Movement from the location
ó thuaidh Rachaimid ó thuaidh amárach. EN: We will go north tomorrow.	ó thuaidh/thuaidh — North Tá an siopa sin ar an taobh ó thuaidh/thuaidh den chontae. EN: That shop is on the north side of the county.	aduaidh Tháinig siad aduaidh inné. EN: They came from the north yesterday.
ó dheas D’imigh sé ó dheas ar maidin. EN: He went south this morning.	ó dheas/theas — South Tá teach acu ar an gcósta ó dheas/theas. EN: They have a house on the south coast.	aneas Tá sí ag teacht aneas faoi láthair. EN: She is coming south at present.
soir An ndeachaigh tú soir chucu? EN: Did you go east to them?	thoir — East Chuaigh, ach ní raibh aon duine thoir. EN: They went, but there was no one east.	anoir Bhí orm teacht anoir arís. EN: I had to come east again.
siar An bhfuil tú ag dul siar anocht? EN: Are you going west tonight?	thiar — West An raibh tú thiar aréir? EN: Were you west last night?	aniar An mbeidh siad ag teacht aniar ar cuairt? EN: Will they be coming west on a visit?
anonn/sall An ndeachaigh Áine sall/anonn go Sasana inné? EN: Did Áine go over to England yesterday?	thall — Over (e.g. there) Chuaigh, tá sí thall le seachtain. EN: She went, she is over for a week.	anall Cén uair a thiocfaidh sí anall arís? EN: When will she be coming over again?

6.4 Points on the Compass

In order to distinguish between the directions, the main compass point is presented in the diagram below with the initial letter of the word:

T (an tuaisceart — the north)

D (an deisceart — the south)

O (an t‑oirthear — the east)

I (an t‑iarthar — the west)

Below are the abbreviations for the sub-points associated with the quadrant of the compass above.

**Table 6C** Points on the Compass
Abbreviation	Movement towards the location	The simple location	Movement from the location
I	siar	an t‑iarthar	aniar
ILD	siar lámh ó dheas	thiar lámh theas	aniar lámh aneas
IID	siar siar ó dheas	thiar thiar theas	aniar aniar aneas
IDLI	siar ó dheas lámh siar	thiar theas lámh thiar	aniar aneas lámh aniar
ID	siar ó dheas	thiar theas	aniar aneas
IDLD	siar ó dheas lámh ó dheas	thiar theas lámh theas	aniar aneas lámh aneas
DID	ó dheas siar ó dheas	theas thiar theas	aneas aniar aneas
DLI	ó dheas lámh siar	theas lámh thiar	aneas lámh aniar
D	ó dheas	an deisceart	aneas