adverbiale

Adverbiale is a term used in linguistics to designate elements that function as adverbial modifiers. It can be a single word (an adverb) or a larger unit such as an adverbial phrase or an adverbial clause. Adverbials modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or whole clauses, and they express information about time, place, manner, cause, purpose, condition, concession, or degree.

Adverbials come in several forms. An adverbial phrase consists of a head word and possible modifiers, typically a prepositional phrase like in the morning, with great care, or by with a different nuance. An adverbial clause is a subordinate clause (when she arrived, because it was late, although rain fell) that provides circumstantial information. A single adverb such as yesterday, here, quickly can also function as an adverbial.

In syntax, adverbials can occupy various positions. They may precede or follow the verb they relate to, appear at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, or be integrated within the clause. Some languages allow fronting of adverbials; in others, word order or inflection may reduce the need for explicit adverbials.

Terminology varies by tradition. In many grammars, adverbiale are called circumstantial adjuncts or temporal/place/manner modifiers, and the exact criteria for classifying a unit as adverbial can differ across languages.

See also: adverb, adverbial phrase, adverbial clause.