Adverbs

Just as adjectives are words that modify nouns, so adverbs are words that modify almost anything else, such as verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, determiners, prepositions, noun phrases, and even whole sentences. Typically, adverbs give information about place, time, circumstance, cause, manner, or degree.

Position

In Elefen, adverbs and adjectives have the same form. The difference is made clear by positioning: adjectives follow nouns; adverbs follow verbs and precede other words:

• La om ia studia atendosa la testo. – The man studied the text carefully. (modifying a verb)
• Me ia veni asi en un tren riable lenta. – I came here on a ridiculously slow train. (modifying an adjective)
• La tren ia move asurda lenta. – The train moved absurdly slowly. (modifying another adverb)
• Me no oia multe bon tu. – I can’t hear you very well. (“multe” modifying “bon”, and “multe bon” modifying “oia”)
• Cuasi sento persones ia espeta sur la plataforma. – Almost a hundred people were waiting on the platform. (modifying a quantifier)
• On ia escava un buco direta ante mea porte. – They’ve dug a hole right in front of my door. (modifying a preposition)
• Sola la manico es rompeda. – Only the handle is broken. (modifying a noun phrase)
• Strana, el ia porta un balde de pexes. – Strangely, he was carrying a bucket of fish. (modifying a sentence)

An adverb (or adverbial phrase) that modifies a verb (or the whole sentence) can also be placed at the beginning of the sentence. And if it doesn’t cause confusion, an adverb can also be placed after the object of the verb, or at the end of the sentence:

• El dansa bon. – He dances well.
• Pronto el va cade. – Soon he will fall.
• Surprendente, el es un xico multe bon. – Surprisingly, he is a very good boy.
• Me no oia tu multe bon. – I cannot hear you very well.
• but: Me leje felis la libro. – I read the book happily.

In some cases, an adverb preceding an adjective can be joined to it with a hyphen to clarify the meaning:

• la parolas nova-creada – the newly created words

Another way to make an adverbial meaning clear is to say en modo or a grado:

• La melodia es bela en modo surprendente. – The tune is surprisingly good.

Comparison

Comparison of adverbs is exactly like comparison of adjectives.

Primary adverbs

In addition to the huge number of adverbs derived from adjectives, Elefen has a few words that are only adverbs:

• apena – hardly, barely
• cisa – perhaps
• cuasi – almost
• tan – so (to such an extent)
• tro – too (excessively)
• asi – here
• ala – there
• an – even (contrary to expectation)
• ance – also
• ancora – still
• aora – now
• alora – then (at that time)
• poi – then, next, and then, and next
• denova – again
• ja – already
• nunca – never
• sempre – always
• ier – yesterday
• oji – today
• doman – tomorrow

Tan is used in exclamations:

• Un vista tan bela! – What a lovely view!
• Tan stonante! – How amazing!

Quantifier adverbs

Certain quantifiers can be converted to adverbs, indicating the extent or degree to which something is the case.

• no – not
• alga – some
• multe – much
• poca – little
• plu – more
• min – less
• la plu – most
• la min – least

No as an adverb means “not”, “to no extent”. It negates what it modifies. As a special case, when it modifies a verb, it precedes the verb:

• Los no va comprende. – They won’t understand.
• Nos ave no sola un orania, ma ance du bananas. – We’ve got not only an orange, but two bananas as well.
• O, no esta problem denova! – Oh, not this problem again!

Alga as an adverb means “some”, “somewhat”, “fairly”, “to some extent”:

• Acel es un caso alga spesial. – That’s a rather special case.
• Alga confusada, el ia cade en la lago. – Somewhat confused, he fell into the lake.

Multe as an adverb means “much”, “very”, “to a large extent”:

• Me es multe coler. – I am very angry.
• El ama multe la femes. – He loves women a lot.

Poca as an adverb means “little”, “not much”, “to only a small extent”:

• Me es poca interesada. – I’m not very interested.
• El core poca. – He runs only a little.

Plu and min as adverbs mean “more” and “less”, “to a greater extent” and “to a lesser extent”:

• Tu aspeta plu joven ca me. – You look younger than me.
• No parla plu. – Don’t talk any more.
• Me es min contente con la resulta ca me ta prefere. – I’m less pleased with the result than I would like.

La plu and la min as adverbs mean “most” and “least”, “to the maximum extent” and “to the minimum extent”:

• “Pardona” es la parola la plu difisil. – “Sorry” is the hardest word.
• El es la om la min interesante en la mundo. – He is the least interesting man in the world.
• A la min, nos ave ancora la un la otra. – At least we still have each other.

Interrogative and relative adverbs

The following adverbs can be used in several ways:

• cuando – when
• do – where
• como – how
• cuanto – how many, how much
• perce – why

They create direct and indirect questions, and they introduce relative clauses. As an extension of their relative use, they also behave like conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses – cuando, for example, is then short for a la tempo cuando. They can also be introduced by prepositions.

Cuando means “when” (a cual tempo, en cual tempo):

• Cuando nos va come? – When are we going to eat?
• La enfante demanda cuando nos va come. – The child is asking when we are going to eat.
• En la anio cuando me ia nase, la clima ia es multe calda. – In the year when I was born, the weather was very hot.
• Cuando nos ariva, me va dormi. – (At the time) when we arrive, I will sleep.
• Nos va canta ante cuando nos dansa. – We will sing before we dance.
• Nos va dansa pos cuando nos canta. – We will dance after we sing.
• Nos va dansa asta cuando nos adormi. – We will dance until we fall asleep.

Do means “where” (a cual loca, en cual loca). When used with a verb of movement, do often means “to where”:

• Do es la can? – Where’s the dog?
• Me no sabe do nos vade. – I don’t know where we’re going.
• En la pais do me ia nase, la clima es multe calda. – In the country where I was born, the weather is very hot.
• El ia dormi do el sta. – He slept where he stood.
• Me veni de do tu ia visita me. – I’m coming from where you visited me.
• La polisior ia desinia un sirculo sirca do el ia trova la clave. – The policewoman drew a circle around where she found the key.

Como means “how” (en cual modo). It also serves as a preposition meaning “like”, “as”:

• Como tu conose mea nom? – How do you know my name?
• Me no comprende como tu conose mea nom. – I don’t understand how you know my name.
• La manera como tu pasea es riable. – The manner in which you walk is ridiculous.
• Me parla como me pensa. – I speak as/how I think.
• La descrive ia difere multe de como la loca aspeta vera. – The description differed greatly from how the place really looks.
• Tua oios es como los de un falcon. – Your eyes are like those of a hawk.

Cuanto means “how much” or “how many” (en cual cuantia). It also serves as a quantifier with the same meaning:

• Cuanto la orolojo custa? – How much does the watch cost?
• Cuanto tu ia compra? – How many/much did you buy?
• Cuanto tu desira esta torta? – How much do you want this cake?
• Me va demanda cuanto ia ariva. – I will ask how many have arrived.
• Nos va aida cuanto nos pote. – We will help as much as we can.
• Tu sabe cuanto me ama tu? – Do you know how much I love you?

Perce means “why” (in various senses: par cual causa, per cual razona, con cual intende). The corresponding conjunctions are car (“because”, “for the reason that”) and afin (“so that”, “with the intention that”):

• Perce tu core? – Why are you running?
• La fem ia demanda perce la fenetra es rompeda. – The woman asked why the window was broken.