Adverbs
Adverbs are used to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are invariable,
which means they do not agree in gender or number with what they describe.
There are several types of adverbs.
Adverbs of time:
hier (yesterday), aujourd’hui (today), demain (tomorrow), tôt (early), tard (late), bientôt (soon),
désormais (from now on), maintenant (now), de temps en temps (occasionally), parfois (sometimes),
toujours (always), quelquefois (sometimes), déjà (already), d’abord (first, foremost), enfin (lastly),
rarement (rarely)...
Adverbs of quantity:
trop (too much), assez (enough), moins (less), plus (more), peu (little), beaucoup (a lot), autant (as
much), aussi (as much)...
Adverbs of place:
ici (here), là (there), ailleurs (elsewhere), loin (far), partout (everywhere), devant (in front of), dehors
(outside), nulle part (nowhere), quelque part (somewhere).
Adverbs of opinion:
heureusement (fortunately), malheureusement (unfortunately), sans doute (doubtless), oui (yes), non
(no), peut-être (maybe), certes (admittedly...
NOTE : When placed at the beginning of a sentence, peut-être is followed by que, but when placed after
the verb, it is not followed by que. Peut-être qu’il viendra. J’irai peut-être au restaurant.
Adverbs of manner:
ainsi (thus), bien (well), mal (badly), soudain (suddenly), vite (quickly), très (very), ensemble (together),
rapidement (quickly), and all the adverbs ending in -ment.
You can create an adverb of manner from an adjective.
• If the adjective ends with a vowel, you just need to add -ment to the end of the adjective.
poli : poliment (polite, politely)
absolu : absolument (absolute, absolutely)
vrai : vraiment (true, truly)
• If the adjective does not end with a vowel, you take the feminine form of the adjective and add -ment.
doux : douce : doucement (soft, softly)
lent: lente : lentement (slow, slowly)
exact : exacte: exactement (exact, exactly)
• When the adjective ends in -ant, the adverb will end in -amment.
courant : couramment (current, currently)
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bruyant : bruyammant (noisy, noisily)
étonnant : étonnamment (surprising, surprisingly)
• When the adjective ends in -ent, the adverb will end in -emment, however, it is still pronounced
-amment.
innocent : innocemment (innocent, innocently)
intelligent : intelligemment (smart, smartly)
différent : différemment (different, differently)
Placement of adverbs :
• If an adverb modifies a verb, it will be placed directly after the verb, or between the auxiliary verb and the
past participle in a composite tense.
Elle court beaucoup. (She runs a lot.)
Il a bien réussi son coup. (She pulled it off well.)
• In a composite tense, longer or less common manner adverbs are placed after the past participle.
Josiane a parlé doucement. (Josiane spoke softly.)
Il a parlé poliment. (He spoke politely.)
• Some adverbs of time are placed at the beginning or end of a sentence.
Aujourd’hui, nous partons en vacances. (Today, we’re leaving on a vacation.)
Nous sommes allés au marché hier. (We went to the market yesterday.)
Ils sont partis tard. (They left late.)
• Most adverbs of place follow the past participle.
Nous sommes allés dehors. (We went outside.)
Je l’ai vu là-bas. (I saw it there.)
There are a few fixed expressions in which an adjective functions as an adverb and is therefore invariable.
coûter cher (to cost a lot)
sentir bon, sentir mauvais (to smell good, to smell bad)
travailler dur (to work hard)
parler fort, parler bas (to speak loudly, to speak softly)
Continue to practice forming and using adverbs. Adverbs are important words that are used in everyday
language, both orally and written. When practicing, do not forget to pay particular attention to the
placement of adverbs, as this is done differently in French than in English.
© 2011 Middlebury Interactive Languages. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these
materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages.