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Adverbs based on prepositions

Much of the material in this section will be explained in greater detail in the chapter on prepositions.

German has a complex system of adverbs based on prepositions, which are used to indicate direction of motion, location, time, and other concepts. English also possesses such a system, though it is used less. Consider the following sentences in English:

1) Could you take the garbage out? 2) Come over this evening if you get the chance. 3) You should just give up. 4) I will look you up in the phone book. 5) The contract, and the conditions contained therein, is hereby declared null and void. (Legalese)

In both English and German, prepositions and particles derived from prepositions are treated as adverbs. In many cases, these prepositional adverbs are associated with specific verbs.

In the first two examples, the italicized prepositions are used as adverbs of motion; in the first example, the word "out" indicates the direction "out of the apartment"; in the second case, "over" not only means means the direction "towards", but also implies visitation of a residence.

The third and fourth examples correspond to separable-prefix verbs in German. The word "up" is integral to the verb, which would have a different meaning without the adverb. "To give up", whose infinitive in German would be "to up-give", means "to quit", in sharp contrast to "to give". In the fourth example, it is not even possible to "look someone", whereas it is possible to "look someone up," or "look a candidate's resume over". (English even has inseparable prepositional prefix verbs; compare "to look s.o. over" to "to overlook s.o." Many of these verbs have been replaced by verbs based on Latin and Greek.)

The adverbs in the fifth example correspond to da-, wo-, hin- and her- compounds in German. Such compounds are often used in legal texts in English. In such compounds, the object of the preposition is replaced with the words "there" or "here", compounded with the preposition. "Therein" simply means "in it".

The German system of adverbs based on prepositions is considerably more rigorous, and forms the basis of a large part of the language's morphology. "To catch on" means "to begin" in English; In German, the primary word for "to begin" is literally "to catch on" (anfangen), from which the equivalent noun, der Anfang (the beginning) is derived. A remnant of this in English can be found when describe a child's upbringing.

As in English, prepositional adverbs in German to varying degrees alter the meaning of their associated verb.

Separable-prefix verbs. This topic is better explored in the chapter on verbs. Separable prefixes are themselves adverbs. As in English, many of them are integral to the meaning of the verb. Fangen means "to catch," whereas anfangen means "to begin".

Most prepositional adverbs are treated as part of the root word in the infinitive, and are used as such in the construction of participles. However, not all possible separable-prefix verbs are lexical; "vorbeikommen" (to come over), "vorbeibringen" (to bring over), and so on, may not all be listed in a dictionary. It is better to learn "vorbei" as an adverb implying visitation.

The German prefix in is of note. It has two adverbial forms. As in it describes location; when describing movement, it becomes ein. Thus, for example, darin means "in there", whereas darein means "in(to) there". Another example is the word, einleiten, to introduce.

Hin- and her-. Prepositional adverbs of motion are usually based on hin-, implying motion or direction away from the speaker, and her-, implying motion or direction towards the speaker. Hin and her are themselves stand-alone adverbs meaning the same thing, and describe less-specific motion or direction. (One example in which hin is an integral separable prefix is the verb hinrichten, which means "to execute.) Not all verbs formed from hin- and her- compounds are lexical. Some examples of hin- and her- compounds are:

herab (down, down from) hinein (in, inside) hinaus (out, out of, onto) darüber hinaus (furthermore, above all) dahin (in the direction/towards of known location)

Mastery of hin- and her- requires considerable effort from the student.

Da- compounds are also adverbs, corresponding to "there-" compounds in English. They replace specific prepositional objects. Although are used principally in legal texts and therefore sound formal in English, they are often employed in written and spoken German and are convenient replacements for long and complicated prepositional phrases. Their comprehension and active use are essential in German. Da- compounds are formed by adding da- before the preposition, with an "r" inserted before prepositions starting with a vowel. There are exceptions to this, and da- compounds are given a fuller treatment in the chapter on prepositions.

Hier- and dort- compounds also exist in German, though they are used less frequently. As in English, they are considered formal, and are used primarily in academic and legal texts. They are best memorized as vocabulary.

hierhin und dorthin - hither and thither