Introduction
The only grammatical category exhibited by adverbs in Modern Greek is degree.
Formation
Positive Degree
The positive degree of many adverbs is formed from the positive degree of a corresponding adjective.
Most adjectives in -ος, -η / -α, -ο, in -ύς, -ιά, -ύ and in -ης, -α, -ικο have a corresponding adverb, which is equivalent to their neuter nominative plural and thus ends in -α.
Example: Adverbs in -α
αλύπητος, -η, -ο (“merciless”) - αλύπητα (“mercilessly”)
τελευταίος, -α, -ο (“recent”) - τελευταία (“recently”)
βαθύς, -ιά, -ύ (“deep”) - βαθιά (“deeply”)
Some adjectives in -ος, -η / -α, -ο have an alternative adverb formed by adding the suffix -ως to their stem. Such adverbs derived from proparoxytone adjectives become paroxytone. In some situations, there is no difference in meaning between the two variants, but in many others this difference is significant.
Example: Adverbs in -ως from Adjectives in -ος, -η / -α, -ο
ευχάριστος, -η, -ο (“pleasant”) - ευχαρίστως (“gladly”, “with pleasure”); ευχάριστα (“pleasantly”)
τέλειος, -α, -ο (“perfect”, “complete”) - τελείως (“completely”); τέλεια (“perfectly”)
Adverbs are formed from adjectives in -ης, -ες by adding the suffix -ως to the their stem. The stress remains on the same syllable as in the masculine nominative singular. However, the adverbs formed from adjectives in -ώδης are oxytone.
Example: Adverbs from Adjectives in -ης, -ες
ακριβής, -ές (“exact”) - ακριβώς (“exactly”)
ουσιώδης, -ες (“essential”) - ουσιωδώς (“essentially”)
Adverbs are formed from adjectives in -ύς, -εία, -ύ by adding the suffix -έως but are formal and rarely occur in spoken language.
Example: Adverbs from Adjectives in -ύς, -εία, -ύ
βραδύς, -εία, -ύ (“slow”) - βραδέως (“slowly”)