Les Adverbs -Adverbs in French
Les Adverbs or adverbs in French are a part of speech that modify or provide additional information about verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They describe how, when, where, or to what extent an action or quality is performed or experienced. Adverbs can add details such as manner, time, place, frequency, degree, or circumstance to a sentence. Adverbs are to verbs as what adjectives are to nouns. Let’s delve into Adverbs in French – Les Adverbs.
- Bien – well
- Vite – quickly
- Lentement – slowly
- Toujours – always
- Jamais – never
- Beaucoup – a lot
- Un peu – a little, few
- Tôt – early
- Tard – late
- Sûrement – surely
- Probablement – probably
- Malheureusement – unfortunately
- Heureusement – fortunately
- Simplement – simply
- Généralement – generally
- Rarement – rarely
- Déjà – already
- alors (then)
- comme (as)
- déjà (already)
- encore (still, yet, again)
- enfin (finally, at last)
- ensemble (together)
- ensuite (then, afterward)
- environ (about)
- loin (far)
- longtemps (a long time)
- même (even)
- peut‐être (perhaps, maybe)
- près de (near)
- presque (almost)
- puis (then)
- si (so)
- surtout (especially)
- tout (quite, entirely)
- In French, many adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -ment to the feminine singular form of the corresponding adjective.
| Adjective Masculine Form | Adjective Feminine form | Adverb |
| Régulier (regular) | Régulière | Régulièrement (regularly) |
| Doux (soft) | Douce | Doucement (gently) |
| Sérieux (serious) | Sérieuse | Sérieusement (seriously) |
| Clair (clear) | Claire | Clairement (clearly) |
| Lent (slow) | Lente | Lentement (slowly) |
| Fort (strong) | Forte | Fortement (strongly) |
| Attentif (attentive) | Attentive | Attentivement (Attentively) |
| Actif (active) | Active | Activement (actively) |
| Cruel (cruel) | Cruelle | Cruellement (Cruelly) |
| Entier (entire) | Entière | Entièrement(Entirely) |
| Faux (false) | Fausse | Faussement (Falsely) |
| Franc (Frank) | Franche | Franchement (Frankly) |
| Seul(only) | Seule | Seulement (only) |
- If the adjective is ending with a vowel the -ment is directly added to the masculine singular form.
| Adjectives ending with a vowel the -ment is added to the masculine singular form | ||
| Rapide (fast) | Rapide | Rapidement (quickly) |
| Facile (easy) | Facile | Facilement (easily) |
| Poli (Polite) | Polie | Poliment (Politely) |
| Sincere (Sincere) | Sincere | Sincèrement (Sincerely) |
| Simple (simple) | Simple | Simplement (Simply) |
| Vrai (true) | Vraie | Vraiment (Truly) |
- You will see in the examples below that some of the adverbs end in -ément. These are just exceptions and there is no general rule to explain them although one reason always stated for expectation in French is for the ease of pronunciation.
| Adverbs ending in -ément | ||
| Profond (deep) | Profonde | Profondément (deeply) |
| Précis (precise) | Précise | Précisément (precisely) |
| Énorme (enormous) | Énorme | Énormément (Enormously) |
| Intense (Intense) | Intense | Intensément (Intensely) |
| Aveugle (Blind) | Aveugle | Aveuglément (Blindly) |
- Adjectives that end with ‐ant and ‐ent will have their adverbs ending in ‐amment and ‐emment, respectively. Lent (slow), is an exception to this rule, which becomes lentement (slowly) as an adverb.
| Adjectives ending in ‐ant and ‐ent will have their adverbs ending in ‐amment and ‐emment | ||
| Constant (Constant) | Constante | Constamment (Constantly) |
| Courant (common/standard) | Courante | Couramment (Fluently) |
| Different (Different) | Différente | Differemment(Differently) |
| Evident (Evident) | Évidente | Evidemment (Evidently) |
| Recent (Recent) | Récente | Récemment (Recently) |
French adverbs of time and place help provide information about when and where an action occurs. Here are some common French adverbs of time and place which are not necessarily formed from adjectives:
Adverbs of Time:
- Aujourd’hui – today
- Hier – yesterday
- Demain – tomorrow
- Maintenant – now
- Bientôt – soon
- Toujours – always
- Jamais – never
- Rarement – rarely
- Souvent – often
- Parfois – sometimes
- quelquefois (sometimes)
- D’abord – first
- Ensuite – then, next
- Après – after
- Avant – before
- Tôt – early
- Tard – late
- Longtemps – for a long time
- Soudainement – suddenly
- Régulièrement – regularly
- Désormais – from now on
Adverbs of Place:
- Ici – here
- Là-bas – over there
- Partout – everywhere
- Nulle part – nowhere
- À droite – to the right
- À gauche – to the left
- En haut – up/above
- En bas – down/below
- À l’extérieur – outside
- À l’intérieur – inside
- dedans (inside)
- dehors (outside)
French adverbs of quantity are words that express the degree or extent of something. These adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to provide information about the quantity or degree of something. Here is a list of some common French adverbs of quantity:
Adverbs of Quantity:
- Beaucoup – a lot, much
- Peu – few, little
- Trop – too much, too many
- Assez – enough, sufficiently
- Tellement – so much, so many
- Autant – as much, as many
- Plus – more
- Moins – less
- Combien – how much, how many
- Aussi – as, so
- Énormément – enormously
- Suffisamment – sufficiently
- Presque – almost, nearly
- Quasiment – virtually, almost
- Encore – still, yet, again
- Bien – well, quite
- Très – very
- Vraiment – really, truly
- Extrêmement – extremely
- Aucunement – not at all (usually used in negations)
