In contrast to adjectives which modify nouns, adverbs can be used to modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.
In French, adverbs can be categorized into five primary types: adverbs of manner, frequency, degree, time, and place.
Although the placement of French adverbs is similar to that of English adverbs, there are some differences. For example, in the English sentence “he often wins”, the adverb is placed in front of the verb. In contrast, in the corresponding French sentence, the adverb is placed after the verb: “il gagne souvent”.
Much like the English language uses the suffix “-ly” to create adverbs from adjectives, French uses the suffix “-ment” for the same purpose.
This pattern has two sets of exceptions: adjectives ending in “-ent” and in “-ant”.
When forming adverbs from these adjectives, in most cases it is the feminine form of the adjective which is used.
An acute accent is added to the ‘e’ in some cases, in order to facilitate the pronunciation. For example:
French adverb | formation |
---|---|
précisément (precise) | précise + -ment |
énormément (enormously) | énorme + -ment |
profondément (deeply) | profonde + -ment |
conformément (accordingly) | conforme + -ment |
intensément (intensely) | intense + -ment |
communément (commonly) | commune + -ment |
Here is a list of the most common French adverbs which are formed simply by adding the suffix -ment to an adjective.
In most cases, the feminine form of the adjective is used. In the table, we have sometimes indicated the masculine form of the adjective even in cases when the feminine form is used to create the adverb.
French adverb | formation |
---|---|
éventuellement (possibly) | éventuel + -ment |
entièrement (entirely) | entier + -ment |
seulement (only) | seule + -ment |
actuellement (currently) | actuelle + -ment |
également (also / equally) | égal + -ment |
simplement (simply) | simple + -ment |
vraiment (truly) | vrai + -ment |
nécessairement (necessarily) | nécessaire + -ment |
facilement (easily) | facile + -ment |
probablement (probably) | probable + -ment |
lentement (slowly) | lente + -ment |
parfaitement (perfectly) | parfait + -ment |
absolument (absolutely) | absolu + -ment |
doucement (softly) | douce + -ment |
rapidement (speedily) | rapide + -ment |
exactement (exactly) | exact + -ment |
complètement (completely) | complet + -ment |
immédiatement (immediately) | immédiate + -ment |
clairement (clearly) | clair + -ment |
rarement (rarely) | rare + -ment |
malheureusement (unfortunately) | malheureux + -ment |
particulièrement (particularly) | particulier + -ment |
totalement (totally) | totale + -ment |
généralement (generally) | générale + -ment |
heureusement (luckily) | heureux + -ment |
autrement (otherwise) | autre + -ment |
French adverbs which are formed from adjectives ending in “-ent” replace that ending with “-emment”. Here are some examples:
French adverb | formation |
---|---|
évidemment (evidently) | évid |
récemment (recently) | réc |
apparemment (apparently) | appar |
impatiemment (impatiently) | impati |
différemment (differently) | différ |
précédemment (before now) | précéd |
prudemment (carefully) | prud |
fréquemment (often) | fréqu |
violemment (violently) | viol |
pertinemment (pertinently) | pertin |
décemment (decently) | déc |
consciemment (consciously) | consci |
An exception to this pattern is the adverb “lentement” (lente + ment).
French adverbs which are formed from adjectives ending in "-ant" replace that ending with “-amment”. Here are some examples:
French adverb | formation |
---|---|
suffisamment (sufficiently) | suffis |
couramment (fluently or commonly) | cour |
indépendamment (independently) | indépend |
abondamment (abundantly) | abond |
constamment (constantly) | const |
brillamment (brilliantly) | brill |
étonnamment (surprisingly ) | étonn |
bruyamment (noisily) | bruy |
incessamment (unceasingly) | incess |
In French, there are also many adverbs that are not derived from adjectives. Here are some examples of these:
Adverb | Meaning |
---|---|
bien | well |
jamais | never |
ainsi | thus, so |
bientôt | soon, shortly |
vite | quickly, fast |
avant | before |
peu | little, few |
désormais | from now on |
loin | far |
là | there |
beaucoup | very much |
dehors | outside |
mieux | better |
assez | enough, somewhat |
néanmoins | nevertheless, nonetheless |
trop | too much |
maintenant | now |
toujours | always |
alors | then, hence, so |
ici | here |
tard | late |
ailleurs | elsewhere |
déjà | already |
tôt | early |
dorénavant | from now on |
encore | still, yet, again |
environ | about |
enfin | finally, at last |
presque | almost |
très | very |
longtemps | for a long time |
demain | tomorrow |
ensemble | together |
souvent | often |
derrière | behind |
cependant | however |
lors | during |
surtout | especially |
parfois | sometimes |
juste | only, precisely |
partout | everywhere |
autrefois | back in the day, in the past |
autant | as much, equally |
guère | hardly, barely |
auparavant | beforehand |
davantage | more |
pourtant | however |
jadis | once, formerly |
dessus | above |
dessous | under |
soudain | suddenly, abruptly |
toutefois | however |
volontiers | willingly, gladly |