Latin from scratch #14.31: Adverbs of manner from adjectives

In the thirty-first class of the Latin from Scratch course, we’ll study the formation of adverbs of manner from adjectives, and their own comparative and superlative degrees.

I explain everything in the following video (⏳ 03m 28s ⌛):

Positive degree

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In English we can form adverbs of manner by adding the suffix ‑ly to an adjective (e.g. quick → quickly). In Latin there are two suffixes, depending on the type of the adjective.

2-1-2 adjectives use the suffix ‑e:

• altus, alta, altum → alte
• miser, misera, miserum → misere

3rd declension adjectives use the suffix ‑(i)ter:

• fortis, forte → fortiter
• celer, celeris, celere → celeriter

Comparative degree

To the original stem of the adjective (not the adverb with its suffix), we add the suffix ‑ius:

• altus, alta, altum → altius
• miser, misera, miserum → miserius
• fortis, forte → fortius
• celer, celeris, celere → celerius

As we can see, it looks like the nominative-accusative of the comparative adjective.

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Superlative degree

For the superlative degree we use the suffix ‑e, but not on top of the original stem of the adjective, but on top of the superlative suffix.

Said in an easier way, the result is one of ‑issime, ‑rime or ‑lime:

• altissime
• miserrime
• facillime

Now that we know everything about the degrees of adjectives and adverbs, let’s put all of this into practice.

Next: Adverbs of manner from adjectives →