1. Formation and Comparison of Adverbs
Latin III: Dec. 8-15, 2014

2. What are adverbs? Adverbs are words that modify verbs.
Sometimes adverbs modify other adverbs, or adjectives.
He runs swiftly.
He is too serious.
Now also the gods are praised.

3. How To Make Adverbs
For 1st/2nd declension adjectives (the –us/-er, -a, -um types), just add –e to the stem.
clarus, clara, clarum: clear
CLARE clearly
miser, misera, miserum: unhappy
MISERE unhappily

4. How To Make Adverbs
For 3rd declension adjectives (the –is, -e type), add –iter to the stem. (Just add –er if the stem ends in –nt.)
fortis, forte: strong
FORTITER: strongly
diligens, diligentis: attentive
DILIGENTER: attentively
(not diligentiter)

5. Page 1-7 handout Dictionary Forms
fortis, forte
gravis, grave
liber, libera, liberum
latus, lata, latum
acer, acris, acre
durus, dura, durum
levis, leve
diligens, diligentis
celer, celeris, celere
altus, alta, altum
malus, mala, malum (irregular…see bottom of 107)
bonus, bona, bonum (irregular…see bottom of 107)

6. How To Compare Adverbs
The comparative adverb always uses –IUS just like the neuter comparative adjective.
clare: clearly
clarius: more clearly
leviter: lightly
levius: more lightly

7. How to Compare Adverbs
The superlative adverb is formed regularly from the superlative adjective form (drop the –us and add –e)
clarrisimus: clearest
clarissime: most clearly

8. Adverb Comparison Chart
clare clarius clarissime
clearly more clearly most clearly
leviter levius levissime
lightly more lightly most lightly

9. A Few More Words About ADJECTIVES
A couple more things before we leave adjectives and adverbs and move on…
2 things to add to our previous information about adjectives and adverbs:
Dative With Adjectives
“Quam” plus the superlative

10. Dative with Adjectives
Remember that dative case tells “to whom” or “for whom.”
Some adjectives work really well with dative case nouns:
Similis (similar…)
Utilis (useful…)
Etc.

11. Dative With Adjectives
Puella est similis matri.
The girl is similar to her mother.
Puella est dissimilis puero.
The girl is dissimilar (not similar) to the boy.
Carrus est agricolae utilis.
The cart is useful for/to the farmer.

12. “Quam” with the Superlative
We’ve already seen how “quam” can mean “than” with the comparative adjectives:
Equus est maior quam canis.
The horse is larger than the dog.

13. “Quam” with the Superlative
“Quam” can also be an intensifier with superlative adjectives and adverbs. When it’s used with a superlative, it means “as … as possible.”
Quam clarissimus: as clear as possible
Quam clarissime: as clearly as possible