There are two classes of adverbs in Finnish: (1) Independent adverbs, (2) Adverbial suffixes.

The independent adverbs are often cases of nouns which differ from postpositions only in this, that they are used absolutely, and not in connection with another word. Thus in kÄydÄ kaupungin ympÄri, to go round the town, ympÄri may be described as a postposition, while in kÄydÄ ympÄri, where it stands alone and absolute, it is an adverb. Similarly in kulkea puutarhan ohitse, to pass by the garden, ohitse is a postposition, but in pian se menee ohitse, it will soon be over, it is an adverb.

These independent adverbs are formed in different ways:—

A. Some are primitive words, whose grammatical formation is not clear, e.g. nyt, now; heti, soon; aina, always; vielÄ, yet; koska, when.

B. A second class is formed by the addition of certain suffixes.

(1) Adverbs are formed from adjectives by the addition of sti, perhaps related to the suffix of the elative, sta, e.g. hywÄ, good, hywÄsti, well; tietty, known; tietysti, certainly. lti is also found (cf. ablative lta); laajalti, widely, e.g. se on laajalti tunnettu, he is widely known; paksulta, much or thickly; syvÄltÄ, deeply.

(2) ten or ti (cf. prolative tse) is added to pronouns. TÄten, so; miten, how; siten, so; muuten, otherwise; perÄti, entirely.

(3) isin (instructive) is added to nouns. Maisin, by land; takaisin, back.

(4) nne is added to pronouns, and forms adverbs of direction. Sinne, thither; tÄnne, hither; minne, whither; jonnekunne, to somewhere or other.

(5) tusten, tuksin, ksuttain, kkain, are used to form adverbs expressing a mutual relation. Rinnatusten, side by side; kÄsityksin, hand in hand; perÄksyttÄin or perÄkkÄin, one behind the other.

(6) oin, or sometimes ain (probably from ajoin, aika, time), is added to the adessive case of pronouns to form temporal adverbs. Silloin, then; milloin, when; muinoin, formerly.

C. Various cases of nouns are used as adverbs:—

Nominative—E.g. kohta, soon; kyllÄ, enough.

Accusative or genitive—kauan, long; paljon, much.

Partitive—ulkoa, outside; salaa, secretly.

Inessive—tÄssÄ, here; missÄ, where; yhdessÄ, together; pystyssÄ, straight, upright.

Elative—tÄstÄ, hence; mistÄ, whence; ainoastaan or ainoastansa, only.

Illative—yhteen, together; tarkkaan, accurately.

Adessive—tuolla, siellÄ, there; kaikkialla, everywhere.

Ablative—kaikkialta, from all sides; muualta, from another place.

Allative—uudelleen, anew; verkalleen, gradually.

Essive—ulkona, outside; kotona, at home; huomenna, to-morrow; kaukana, far.

Translative, where kse is generally abbreviated to s,—alas, below; ulos, without; myÖs, also.

Abessive, where tta becomes ti,—ÄÄneti, silently; huoleti, without care.

Instructive—niin, so; kuin, how; tosin, truly; harvoin, rarely; kaksittain, two at a time.

The second infinitive is also used adverbially in the instructive, nimittÄin (for en), that is to say.

Adverbs are also found in the comparative and superlative degree, and are then in the essive, partitive, and translative cases, or adessive, ablative, and allative. The termination ksi of the translative often sinks to s, or merely the aspirate. LikempÄnÄ, nearer; likempÄÄ, likemmÄksi (-mmÄs or -mma?), likemmÄllÄ, likemmÄltÄ, etc.

The adverbial suffixes are added to the end of other words. The principal are—

Ko, kÖ, which gives an interrogative meaning to the word to which it is affixed, like ?? in Russian.

Han, hÄn, pa, pÄ, have a strengthening or affirmative force.

Ki, kin, have a copulative sense,—minÄkin, I too.