100+ Most Common Russian Adverbs (with Pronunciation)

An adverb is a word that provides greater description to a verb, adjective or another adverb. It answers questions like “How?”, “Where?”, “Why?”, etc.

Adverbs in Russian do not change in form, so they are quite easy to remember.

Adverbs of time (наречия времени)

сейчас [sichas] – now

теперь [tiper’] – now

потом [patom] – afterward(s)/then

всегда [vsigda] – always

никогда [nikagda] – never

постоянно [pastayana] – all the time

часто [chasta] – often

редко [retka] – seldom

давно [davno] – long ago, a long time ago

недавно [nidavna] – not long ago, recently

уже [uzhe] – already

раньше [ran’she] – before

после [posle] – after

сегодня [sivodnya] – today

завтра [zavtra] – tomorrow

послезавтра [poslezavtra] – the day after tomorrow

вчера [vchira] – yesterday

сначала [snachala] – at first

скоро [skora] – soon

накануне [nakanune] – the day before

утром [utram] – in the morning

днем [dnyom] – in the daytime

вечером [vecheram] – in the evening

ночью [noch’yu] – at night

летом [letam] – in summer

осенью [osen’yu] – in autumn

весной [vesnoy] – in spring

зимой [zimoy] – in winter

By the way, you can learn more about seasons and months in Russian in one of my previous posts.

You can also save this picture to remember most common time adverbs:

How to use adverbs in sentences. Examples:

Завтра я пойду на работу. – Tomorrow I’ll go to work. (it’s also possible to say “Я завтра пойду на работу”, “Я пойду завтра на работу” and “Я пойду на работу завтра”, depending on which part of the sentence you want to stress).

Он никогда не приходит вовремя. – He never comes on time.

Моя собака постоянно спит. – My dog sleeps all the time.

Adverbs of place (наречия места)

здесь [zdes’] – here

там [tam] – there

справа [sprava] – on / to / from the right

слева [sleva] – on / to / from the left

посередине [paseridine] – in the middle

вверху/сверху [vverkhu] – above

внизу/снизу [vnizu/] – below

далеко [daleko] – far off; a long way off; far (from)

рядом [ryadam] – near

сбоку [sboku] – from one side, on one side

около [okola] – nearby, around, about

навстречу [navstrechu] – toward(s)

направо [naprava] – to / on the right (of), toward the right, rightwards

налево [naleva] – to / on the left (of)

вдали [vdali] / вдалеке [vdalike] – far off, far; in the distance

вблизи [vblizi] – nearby; close (to, by), not far from; близко [] – more common in everyday speaking

вокруг [vakruk] – round, around, about

впереди [vperidi] – in front, ahead, before

позади [pazadi] / сзади [szadi] – behind

внутри [vnutri] – inside

снаружи [snaruzhi] – outside

напротив [naprotif] – opposite; across

сюда [syuda] – here, hither; this way

дома [doma] – at home

Adverbs of purpose (наречия цели)

нарочно [naroshna] / специально [spetsialna] / умышленно [umishlena] – purposely

назло [nazlo] – to spite smb.

невзначай [nevznachay] – unexpectedly, by chance

в шутку [v shutku] – in jest, as a joke

наперекор [naperikor] – in spite / defiance (of), contrary (to)

впрок [fprok] – for future use, in store

Adverbs of reason (наречия причины)

поневоле [panivole] – against one’s will

неспроста [nisprosta] – not without purpose; with an ulterior motive (Ex: Затопленный лес называется так неспроста. – This is called the flooded forest for a reason.)

сгоряча [sgoricha] – in a temper, in the heat of the moment; rashly

со зла [sa zla] – from malice, out of spite (Ex: Не уничтожай со зла мою репутацию. – Don’t destroy my reputation out of spite.)

сдуру [zduru] – foolishly

сослепу [soslepu] – due to poor sight

недаром [nidaram] – not in vain, not without reason; not for nothing

Adverbs of quality (качественные наречия)

быстро [bistro] – quickly, rapidly

правильно [pravil’na] – rightly; correctly

весело [vesila] – merrily, gaily

смело [smela] – bravely, fearlessly

грустно [grustna] – sadly (Ex: Мне было грустно. – I was sad.)

странно [strana] – oddly, peculiarly (Ex: Она ведет себя странно. – She’s acting strange.)

чудо­вищно [chudovishchna] – monstrously, hideously

страшно [strashna] – terrifyingly, scary; very (Ex: Он был страшно зол на меня. – He was furious with me.)

приятно [priyatna] – nicely, pleasantly (Ex: После первого результата теста, я был приятно удивлен. – After the first test result, I was pleasantly surprised.)

Adverbs of manner (способа и образа действия)

так [tak] – so, this way; in such a way

трепетно [trepitna] – tremulously

шёпотом [shopatam] – in whisper

вдвоём [vdvayom] – the two of us (Ex: Нам раньше было так хорошо вдвоём. – We used to have a lot fun together.)

втроём [vtrayom] – the three of us (Ex: Уверен, втроём мы во всем разберёмся. – I’m sure the three of us can work this out.)

шагом [shagam] – at a walking pace, at a footpace

бегом [bigom] – at a run; running

вперемешку [fperimeshku] – mixed up

наверняка [navernika] – for sure, certainly

Adverbs of measure and degree (меры и степени)

совсем [safsem] – quite, entirely, totally; at all

крайне [krayne] – extremely

слишком [slishkam] / чересчур [chereschur] – too, too much

много [mnoga] – much

мало [mala] – little

вдвое [vdvoye] – twice; double

втрое [vtroye] – three times

почти [pachti] – almost

немного [nimnoga] – some; not much

слегка [slikhka] – somewhat; slightly, gently

чуть-чуть [chut’-chut’] – a tiny bit; just a little; slightly

вдвойне [vdvayne] – twice, double, doubly, in double measure

втройне [vtrayne] – three times as much

трижды [trizhdi] – three times

очень [ochin’] – very

весьма [vis’ma] – very, highly, extremely

совершенно [savirshena] – absolutely, quite, totally

абсолютно [absalyutna] – absolutely

еле-еле [yeli-yeli]/ едва [yedva] – barely

гораздо [garazda] – much, far; by far

Forming adverbs from adjectives

Comparative and superlative adverbs

Adverbs formed from adjectives have comparative and superlative forms. There are two ways to make comparatives: by changind the adverb endings or by adding words более/менее.

широкий – шире or более широкий

толстый – толще or более толстый

Я выше своего брата. – I’m taller than my brother.

Он прыгнул менее высоко, чем отец. – He jumped less high than his father.

Superlative form in Russian is very easy: you justa take an adverb and add всего or всех:

Я бегаю быстрее всех! – I run faster than the others (than all people in the world)

Больше всего я волнуюсь о моей младшей сестре. – Most of all, I’m worried about my little sister.