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French Adverbs
adverbs of frequency explain how often something occurs.
encore again
encore une fois one more time
jamais never
parfois sometimes
rarement rarely
souvent often
toujours always
quelquefois sometimes
tous les jours (mois, etc) every day (month, etc)
une (deux, trois, etc) fois once (twice, three times, etc)
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
confortable confortablement comfortably
passionné passionnément passionately
poli poliment politely
spontané spontanément spontaneously
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
franc franche franchement frankly
lent lente lentement slowly
naturel naturelle naturellement naturally
premier première premièrement firstly
rapid rapide rapidement rapidly
sérieux sérieuse sérieusement seriously
vif vive vivement sharply, deeply
Exceptions:
bref brève brièvement briefly
gentil gentille 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
confus confusément confusedly
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
There are a few French adverbs of manner that don't end in -ment:
ainsi thus
bien well
debout standing up
exprès on purpose
mal poorly, badly
mieux better
pire worse
vite quickly
volontiers gladly
adverbs of place explain where something occurs.
ailleurs elsewhere
autour around
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-bas over there
loin far away
n'importe où anywhere
nulle part nowhere
partout everywhere
près near
quelque part somewhere
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 de a 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.
*This does not apply to the starred adverbs, which are always followed by the definite article.
adverbs of time explain when something happens.
actuellement currently
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
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 l'heure a little while ago, in a little while
tout de suite immediately
The placement of French adverbs depends to some extent upon the type of
adverb and the word that it is modifying.
An adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb (usually aussi, si, très, fort,
bien) is placed before the word it modifies.
Usually an adverb modifying a verb is placed after the conjugated verb (simple
tense), or after the helping verb (compound tense).
Nous mangeons bien.
Nous avons bien mangé.
Nous allons bien manger.
Il fait souvent la cuisine.
Il a souvent fait la cuisine.
Il doit souvent faire la cuisine.
When an adverb applies to the whole sentence, it can be placed at the beginning or
at the end of the sentence.
For your information these are more complete rules for adverb placement.
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.
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.
Long adverbs are usually placed at the beginning or end of the sentence.
Généralement, nous mangeons avant
Normally, we eat before 5pm.
17h00.
Je ne l'ai pas trouvé, malheureusement. I didn't find it, unfortunately.
However, if the long adverb specifically modifies the verb, it is placed after the
conjugated verb.
Il a immédiatement quitté Paris. He left Paris immediately.
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.
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.
In negative constructions, adverbs which normally follow the verb are placed
after pas.
Je mange bien ==> Je ne mange pas
I eat well ==> I don't eat well.
bien.
Tu travailles trop ==> Tu ne travailles You work too much ==> You don't work
pas trop. too much.
