How to use adverbs in Russian?

A Russian adverb, like an English adverb, is a word that describes a word that is not a noun (verbs, adjectives, other adverbs...). For example:

• Он хорошо танцует.

  Transcription: on kharaSHO tanTSOOit

  Translation: He dances well.

  хорошо modifies the verb танцует
• Они невероятно талантливые студенты.

  Transcription: aNI niviraYATna taLANtliviye stoodyenty

  Translation: They are incredibly smart students.

  невероятно modifies the adjective талантливые

However, there are some cases where we use an adverb in Russian where you’d use an adjective in English. For example:

In this post, we’ll introduce you to six types of Russian adverbs, talk about where we put them in the sentence, discuss some of the ways adverbs are formed, and the endings they have. Then we’ll talk a little about the differences between adverbs and adjectives in Russian, and discuss when to use which kind of word to describe a noun. Ready to see more examples of Russian adverbs? Keep reading!

The general rules for where to put Russian adverbs in a sentence are given below. Adverbs never change their forms, so really the only difficult part is putting them in the right spot!

• If an adverb you use modifies a verb, the adverb can either come directly before the verb or directly after the verb and its objects. For example:

  adverbverbobject

  ✅ Он быстро прочитал эту книгу.

  Transcription: on BYStra prachiTAL Etoo KNEEgoo

  Translation: He has read this book fast.

  ✅ Он прочитал эту книгу быстро.

  Transcription: on prachiTAL Etoo KNEEgoo BYStra

  Translation: He has read this book fast.

• If the adverb modifies an adjective or an adverb, then put it right before the adjective or adverb, like you would in English. For instance:

  modifying adverbmodified adverbadjective

  Она очень вкусно готовит.

  Transcription: aNA Ochen FKOOSna gaTOvit

  Translation: She cooks very deliciously.

  Они слишком умные люди, чтобы заниматься этим.

  Transcription: aNI SLEESHkam OOMnye lyudi, CHTOby zaniMAtsa Etim

  Translation: They are too smart to do it.

The most important groups of adverbs in Russian are adverbs of manner, time, place, and degree. Let’s see some examples of adverbs in each group! We’ll cover two other groups of Russian adverbs, negative adverbs and indefinite adverbs, further down.

• Adverbs of manner

  Adverbs that answer the question как? (transcribed kak, meaning “how?”) are called adverbs of manner. They tell us how an action is performed.

  • Они быстро решили эту трудную задачу.

    Transcription: aNI BYStra reSHEEli Etoo TROODnooyu zaDAchoo

    Translation: They quickly solved this difficult task.
  • Он говорил по-испански и я не мог понять его.

    Transcription: on gavaREEl pa-isPANski i ya ni mog paNYAT iVO

    Translation: He spoke in Spanish, and I could not understand him.
  • Мы все понимаем счастье по-разному.

    Transcription: MI vsye paniMAem SCHAstye pa-RAZnamoo

    Translation: We all understand happiness in different ways.

• Adverbs of time, frequency, and duration

  Adverbs that answer the question когда? (transcribed kagda, meaning “when?”) are called adverbs of time. They help us to understand when, how frequently, or how long the action is performed.

  • Сегодня днём будет отличная погода, но потом пойдёт дождь.

    Transcription: siVOdnya dnyem BOOdet atLEEchnaya paGOda, no paTOM payDYET DOzhd

    Translation: The weather is going to be great today in the afternoon, but it will start raining later.
  • Зимой в России часто идёт снег.

    Transcription: ziMOY v RaSSEEyi CHASta idyot snek

    Translation: In winter, in Russia, it often snows (lit: snow walks).
  • В России в ноябре уже идёт снег и долго держатся морозы.

    Transcription: v RaSSEEyi v nayaBRE oozhe idyot snek i DOlga DYERzhatsa maROzy

    Translation: It is already snowing in November in Russia, and frost lasts a long time.

  To learn more, have a look at our post on adverbs of time in Russian!

• Adverbs of place and direction

  Adverbs that answer the question где? (transcribed gdye, meaning “where?”) are called adverbs of place, and those that describe where something is going to or from are called adverbs of direction.

  • Здесь находится мой дом.

    Transcription: zdes naHOditsya moy dom

    Translation: Here is my house.

    Literally: lit. Here located my house.
  • Справа от дома есть магазин, а слева аптека.

    Transcription: SPRAva at DOma est magaZEEN, a SLEva apTEka

    Translation: There is a store to the right of the house, and there is a pharmacy to the left.
  • Я люблю сидеть дома в выходные.

    Transcription: ya lyubLYU siDET DOma v vykhadNYye

    Translation: I like to stay at home on the weekend.

  Russian adverbs of place and adverbs of direction often look different. So if you want to say, “here is my house” (an adverb of place), you’ll use a different Russian word from when you want to say, “here I come!” (an adverb of direction). To learn more, have a look at our post on adverbs of place and direction in Russian.

• Adverbs of degree

  Adverbs that answer the question в какой степени? (transcribed v kaKOY STYEpini, meaning “to what degree?”) are called adverbs of degree. They help us to understand whether something has “a lot” of a quality or “just a little.”

  • Она очень любит кофе и совершенно не любит газировку.

    Transcription: aNA Ochen LYUbit KOfe i savirSHEna ni LYUbit gaziROFkoo

    Translation: She likes coffee a lot, and completely does not like soda.
  • Он только чуть-чуть понимает по-русски, так как мало занимается.

    Transcription: on TOlka choot-choot paniMAyet pa-ROOski, tak kak MAla zaniMAyitsa

    Translation: He understands Russian a little as he practices so little.
  • Я почти закончила работу.

    Transcription: ya pachTEE zaKONchila raBOtoo

    Translation: I am almost finished with work.

  Here are some common Russian adverbs of degree:

  • очень (transcribed Ochen, meaning “very”)

  • чуть-чуть (transcribed choot-choot, meaning “a bit”)

  • достаточно (transcribed dasTAtachna, meaning “suffiсiently”)

  • слишком (transcribed SLEEshkam, meaning “too”)

  • совершенно (transcribed savirSHEna, meaning “completely”)

  • почти (transcribed pachTI, meaning “almost”)

Luckily, each Russian adverb will only have one form, so they don’t have to agree with any other word in the sentence! However, you can sometimes make adverbs out of other kinds of words.

Many adverbs, especially adverbs of manner, are formed from adjectives by following one of the rules below:

• Add -о (transcribed o) to the stem of an adjective → This is the most “classic” adverb pattern in Russian. The -о ending is used to form both adverbs of manner and adverbs of time.

  Adjective	Adverb	Translation
  интересный Transcription: intiRESniy	интересно Transcription: intiRESna	interesting → interestingly
  стильный Transcription: STEELniy	стильно Transcription: STEELna	stylish → stylishly
  хороший Transcription: khaROSHiy	хорошо Transcription: kharaSHO	good → well
  обычный Transcription: aBYCHnyi	обычно Transcription: aBYCHna	usual → usually
  ранний Transcription: RANniy	рано Transcription: RAna	early → early

• Add -e (transcribed ye) to the stem of a participle.

  Adjective	Adverb	Translation
  понимающий Transcription: paniMAyushiy	понимающе Transcription: paniMAyusche	understanding → understandingly
  вызывающий Transcription: vyzyVAyushiy	вызывающе Transcription: vyzyVAyusche	provoking → provokingly

• Add -и (transcribed i) to the stem of some adjectives ending with -ск/-цк. Usually you will also add the prefix по- (transcribed pa) to adverbs like these.

  Adjective	Adverb	Translation
  дружеский Transcription: DROOzhiskiy	по-дружески Transcription: paDROOzhiski	friendly → in a friendly way
  дурацкий Transcription: dooRATSki	по-дурацки Transcription: padooRATSki	foolish → foolishly
  русский Transcription: ROOski	по-русски Transcription: paROOski	Russian → in Russian
  практический Transcription: prakTEEchiskiy	практически Transcription: prakTEEchiski	practical → practically

• In a few cases, add по- (transcribed pa) to the dative form of the adjective to form an adverb as well. Dative adjectives usually end in -ому (transcribed Ommo) or -ему (transcribed Emoo).

  Adjective	Adverb	Translation
  разный Transcription: RAZniy	по-разному Transcription: paRAZnamoo	different → differently
  прежний Transcription: PRYEZHnimiy	по-прежнему Transcription: paPRYEZHnimoo	former → as before

A few adverbs of manner and time are also formed from nouns.

• Some nouns in the instrumental case are used as adverbs of time. For example:

  • зимой (transcribed ziMOY, meaning “in winter”)

  • летом (transcribed LEtam, meaning “in summer”)

  • осенью (transcribed Osenyu, meaning “in fall”)

  • ночами (transcribed naCHAmii, meaning “at night”)

• Adverbs of manner that come from nouns don’t follow any particular pattern, so it’s best to just memorize them. Here are some examples:

  • пешком (transcribed pishKOM, meaning “on foot”)

  • вслепую (transcribed fsliPOOyu, meaning “blindly”)

  • вслух (transcribed fslookh, meaning “out loud”)

  • второпях (transcribed ftaraPYAKH, meaning “in a hurry”) - colloquial

  • назубок (transcribed nazooBOK, meaning “by heart”) - colloquial

  • наперебой (transcribed napiriBOY, meaning “vying with each other”) - colloquial

In Russian, as in English, adjectives are words that describe nouns (people, places, things, ideas,...) while adverbs usually describe other kinds of words and phrases. However, Russian learners often find it tricky to decide when to use an adjective and when to use an adverb, for a couple of reasons:

• In English we can often use the same word to describe either a noun or a verb, for example you can say that something is a “fast car” or you can say that the car “drives fast.” In Russian, though, these concepts are translated using two different words, one of which is only an adjective, while the other is only an adverb. Let’s look at some examples:

  • adjective

    Это трудный язык.

    Transcription: Eta TROOdniy yaZYK

    Translation: It’s a difficult language.
  • adverb

    Изучать этот язык трудно.

    Transcription: IzooCHAT Etat yaZYK TROODna

    Translation: It’s difficult to study this language.

• There are a few cases where, if you translate an English sentence into Russian, an adjective in English becomes an adverb in translation. For example, in the sentence below, the word интересно (transcribed intiRESna), which we translate as the adjective “interesting,” is actually an adverb in Russian (compare: “interestingly”).

  adverb

  Мне очень интересно узнавать о новых культурах.

  Transcription: mnye OCHen intiRESna ooznaVAT a NOvykh koolTOOrakh

  Translation: It’s very interesting for me to learn about new cultures.

  Literally: lit. To me it’s very interestingly to learn about new cultures.

• There are a few other cases where adverbs can describe nouns directly in Russian, which can be tricky for English speakers to understand.

Let’s look a little more closely at these second two points.

Negative adverbs are words like “never” or “nowhere” that are used to describe something that didn’t happen, doesn’t exist, isn’t in a certain place, is missing, and more. In Russian, there are two types of negative adverbs:

• Negative adverbs with the prefix ни- (transcribed ni) → These are used simply to describe something that didn’t happen or doesn’t exist.

• Negative adverbs with the prefix не- (transcribed nye) → These are used to describe a lack of something, like a lack of time, space, thoughts, or similar.

Compare the two sentences below:

Here are a few more examples:

• Adverbs with ни-

  • Мы раньше нигде не встречались.

    Transcription: my RANshe nigDE ny fstriCHAlys

    Translation: We have never met before.

    Literally: lit. We have not never met before.
  • Они никогда не говорят о политике.

    Transcription: aNEE nikagDA ni gavaRYAT a paLEEtike

    Translation: They never discuss politics at home.

• Adverbs with не-

  • Мне некогда смотреть телевизор.

    Transcription: mnye NEkagda smatREt tiliVEEzar

    Translation: I do not have time to watch TV.
  • Незачем об этом разговаривать.

    Transcription: NEzachem ab Etam razgaVArivat

    Translation: There is no reason to talk about it.

Indefinite adverbs have the same uses as regular adverbs (describing how, when, where, why, etc.) but they are intentionally not specific. They translate to English words like “somewhere” or “somehow” or “anywhere.”

Russian indefinite adverbs are formed by adding -то (transcribed to) and -нибудь (transcribed niBOOd) to question words that are answered with adverbs. For example:

• Я где-то оставил свой телефон.

  Transcription: ya gde-ta asTAvil svoy tiliFON

  Translation: I left my cell phone somewhere.
• Надо как-то решить эту проблему.

  Transcription: NAda kak-ta rishEEt Etoo prabLEmoo

  Translation: We need to resolve this problem somehow.
• Вы когда-нибудь были в Париже?

  Transcription: vy kagDA-niBOOD byli v PaREEzhe

  Translation: Have you ever been to Paris?
• Вы где-нибудь отдыхали в этом году?

  Transcription: vy gde-niBOOd adyKHAli v Etam gaDOO

  Translation: Have you had a vacation anywhere this year (have you traveled)?

In Russian, comparative adverbs (e.g. “ran slower”) look just like Russian comparative adjectives (e.g. “slower kid”).

Superlative adverbs (e.g. “painted most incredibly”) are not identical to superlative adjectives (e.g. “the most incredible painting”), but they are both formed by adding the same word, наиболее (transcribed naiBOliye, meaning “most”) before the base form.

Let’s make sure that we remember:

• In Russian, an adverb is a part of speech that usually modifies verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

• Russian adverbs do not change their forms. They can always come directly before the word they describe, but they can also come after a verb and its objects.

• The most “classic” way to form an adverb in Russian is to add the ending -о to an adjective stem, but we saw several other ways adverbs can be formed as well.

• We use adverbs in Russian in a few places where you might use an adjective in English, mostly in sentences that describe someone’s temporary state. These are called “impersonal sentences.”

Now you’re ready to practice using adverbs in Russian by downloading the Russian adverb practice sheet below! Good luck!