ADVERBS

Adverbs provide information about the words they modify, such as when, where, how, how
often, or to what degree something is done.

 PLACEMENT OF FRENCH ADVERBS .

1. When a French adverb modifies a verb, it is placed after the conjugated verb.

Nous avons bien mangé. We ate well .

Je regarde souvent la télé le soir. I often watch TV in the evening. OR Often , I watch TV in
the evening OR I watch TV in the evening often .

2. When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it is placed in front of the word it
is modifying.

Je suis tellement nerveux. I am so nervous. (With adjective)

 Elle est vraiment grosse. She is really fat. (With adjective)
Nous avons très bien mangé. We ate very well. (With another adverb)

TYPES OF ADVERBS

1. ADVERBS OF MANNER (Answers how in English), (comment) Adverbs of manner explain

how something happens. The majority of French adverbs of manner end in -ment, which is
usually equivalent to the English ending -ly. These adverbs are formed from French adjectives,
as follows:

I. If the French adjective ends in a vowel, add -ment to form the adverb
Adjective French adverb English translation
absolu absolument absolutely
admirable admirablement admirably
nécessaire nécessairement necessarily
passionné passionnément passionately
poli poliment politely
rude rudement roughly
vrai vraiment truly

II. If the French adjective ends in a consonant, add -ment to the feminine form
Masculine adj Feminine adjective French adverb English translation
amical amicale amicalement in a friendly way
éventuel éventuelle éventuellement possibly
 franc franche franchement frankly
normal normale normalement normally
premier première premièrement firstly
rapid rapide rapidement rapidly
sérieux sérieuse sérieusement seriously
vif vive vivement sharply, deeply
Exceptions:
bref brève brièvement briefly
gentil gentile gentiment kindly

I/IIa. Rules I and II ensure that French adverbs have a vowel immediately preceding the -ment
ending. The following adverbs follow one of the above rules, but require an acute
accent on this vowel:
aveugle aveuglément blindly
commun communément commonly
conforme conformément in accordance
énorme énormément enormously
intense intensément intensely
obscur obscurément obscurely
précis précisément precisely
profond profondément profoundly
uniforme uniformément uniformly

III. If the French adjective ends in -ant or -ent, remove the ending and add -amment or –
emment
Adjective French adverb English translation
apparent apparemment apparently
bruyant bruyamment loudly
constant constamment constantly
intelligent intelligemment intelligently
patient patiemment patiently
suffisant suffisamment sufficiently
Exception:
lent lentement Slowly

Irregular adverbs
bref brièvement Briefly
gentil gentiment Kindly
There are a few French adverbs of manner that don't end in -ment:

bien Well
Exprès on purpose
mal poorly, badly
Mieux Better
pire Worse
vite Quickly
Volontiers Gladly

ADVERBS OF TIME (Answers when in English) (quand): French adverbs of time explain when
something happens.

Examples:

actuellement Currently
à la fois at the same time
alors Then
après After
après-demain the day after tomorrow
aujourd'hui Today
auparavant previously, beforehand
aussitôt Immediately
autrefois formerly, in the past
avant Before
avant-hier the day before yesterday
bientôt Soon
cependant Meanwhile
d'abord first, at first
de bonne heure Early
déjà already, ever
demain Tomorrow
depuis Since
dernièrement Lately
désormais from now/then on
dorénavant from now/then on
enfin at last, finally
en même temps at the same time
ensuite Next
hier Yesterday
il y a Ago
immédiatement Immediately
longtemps for a long time
maintenant Now
n'importe quand Anytime
précédemment Previously
puis Then
récemment Recently
tard Late
tôt Early
tout à coup all of a sudden
tout à l'heure a little while ago, in a little while
tout de suite Immediately

Adverbs of time which refer to specific days can be placed at

the beginning or end of the sentence.

Aujourd'hui, je vais acheter une voiture. Today, I'm going to

buy a car.
Elles arriveront demain. They'll arrive
tomorrow.

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY (Answers how often in English)

Adverbs of frequency are usually placed after the verb.

Exception: parfois is normally placed at the beginning of
the sentence.
Je fais toujours mes devoirs. I always do my homework.

Parfois, Luc ne fait pas ses devoirs. Sometimes Luc doesn't do his
homework.

French adverbs of frequency explain how often something occurs.

encore Again
encore une fois one more time
jamais never, ever
parfois sometimes
quelquefois sometimes
rarement Rarely
souvent Often
toujours always
 tous les jours (mois, ans, etc) every day (month, year, etc)
toutes les semaines (heures, etc)every week (hour, etc)
une fois, deux fois once, twice
trois, quatre... fois three, four... times

ADVERBS OF QUANTITY (Answers how much, how many of English) Combien de French
adverbs of quantity explain how many or how much.

assez (de) quite, fairly, enough

autant (de) as much, as many
beaucoup (de) a lot, many
bien de* quite a few
combien (de) how many, much
davantage More
encore de* More
environ around, approximately
la majorité de* the majority of
la minorité de* the minority of
moins (de) less, fewer
un nombre de a number of
pas mal de quite a few
(un) peu (de) few, little, not very
la plupart de* Most
plus (de) More
une quantité de a lot of
seulement Only
si So
tant (de) so much, so many
tellement So
très Very
trop (de) too much, too many
un/e verre/boîte/kilo dea glass/can/kg/bit of
(more quantities)
Adverbs of quantity (except très) are often followed by de + noun. When this happens, the
noun usually does not have an article in front of it; i.e., de stands alone, with no definite
article.*

Il y a beaucoup de problèmes - There are a lot of problems.

J'ai moins d'étudiants que Thierry - I have fewer students than Thierry.
ADVERBS OF PLACE (Answers where of English) Ou

Adverbs of place are usually found after the direct object.

Il a mis ton sac à dos là-bas. He put your backpack over there.
J'ai trouvé le livre ici. I found the book here.

Adverbes de lieu

ailleurs elsewhere
French adverbs of place explain where something occurs.
autour around
ci- ___ here
d'ailleurs besides
dedans inside
dehors outside
derrière behind
dessous below
dessus above
devant in front
en bas down(stairs)
en haut up(stairs)
ici here
là there
là- ___ there
loin far away
n'importe où anywhere
nulle part nowhere
partout everywhere
près near
quelque part somewhere
COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADVERBS

Comparatives and superlatives are adverbs that let you make comparisons between two or
more things. Their names indicate the difference between them: comparatives compare two
or more things, while superlatives express extremes.

Introduction to French Comparatives

Comparatives express relative superiority or inferiority; that is, that something is more or less
than something else. In addition, comparatives can say that two things are equal. There are
three types of comparatives, but four different
Ads
1. Superiority: plus... (de or que) more... than, _____er than
Laure est plus sportive (qu'Anne).
Laure is more athletic (than Anne).

2. Inferiority: moins... (de or que) less.... than

Rouen est moins cher (que Paris).
Rouen is less expensive (than Paris).

3. Equality:
a. aussi.... (de or que) as... as
Tu es aussi sympathique que Chantal.
You're as nice as Chantal.
b. autant (de or que) as much/many as
Je travaille autant qu'elle.
I work as much as she does.

For detailed information about how to use comparatives, including whether to

use de or que and the difference between aussi andautant , please see my lesson on French
comparatives .

Introduction to French Superlatives

Superlatives express ultimate superiority or inferiority, claiming that one thing is the most or
least of all. There are two types of French superlatives:

1. Superiority: le plus the most, the _____est

C'est le livre le plus intéressant du monde.
It's the most interesting book in the world.
 2. Inferiority: le moins the least
Nous avons acheté la voiture la moins chère.
We bought the least expensive car.

Interrogative adverbs are used to ask for new information or

facts. The most common French interrogative adverbs are:
1. combien (de) - how many/much
2. comment - how, what
3. où - where
4. pourquoi - why
5. quand - when
All of these interrogative adverbs can be used to ask questions
with either est-ce que orinversion .

Quand manges-tu ? Quand est-ce que tu manges ?

When do you eat?

Combien de livres veut-il ? Combien de livres est-ce qu'il veut ?

How many books does he want?

Où habite-t-elle ? Où est-ce qu'elle habite ?

Where does she live?

In negative constructions, adverbs which would normally follow

the verb are placed after pas.
Je mange bien ==> Je ne mange pas bien. I eat well ==> I don't eat
well.
Tu travailles trop ==> Tu ne travailles pas trop. You work too much ==> You
don't work too much.
Adverbs which modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed in
front of the word they modify.
Je suis très heureuse. I'm very happy.
Chantal fait assez souvent ses devoirs. Chantal does her homework
fairly often.