Adverbs in French

Adverbes

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It often expresses
how the subject performs an action. In French, many adverbs are formed by adding an ending
to the masculine or feminine form of the related adjective. Other adverbs are totally distinct
in nature and must be memorized.Characteristics of French Adverbs

Types of French Adverbs

 adverbs of frequency
 adverbs of manner (includes French adverb formation)
 adverbs of place
 adverbs of quantity
 adverbs of time
 comparative/superlative adverbs
 exclamative adverbs
 indefinite adverbs
 interrogative adverbs
 negative adverbs

Regular and irregular adverbs

Regular adverbs

An adverb describes a verb or adjective, giving information about where, when or how

something is done.

To make an adverb, take the feminine singular form of an adjective and add -ment. For

example:

 heureuse (feminine singular of heureux – happy) becomes heureusement (happily,

also used to say luckily)
 claire (feminine singular of clair – clear) becomes clairement (clearly)
If an adjective ends in a vowel, use the masculine form and add -ment. For example:

 poli (polite) becomes poliment (politely)
 vrai (real) becomes vraiment (really)
If an adjective ends in -ant or -ent, remove the ending and add -amment or -emment. For
example:

 poli (polite) becomes poliment (politely)
 vrai (real) becomes vraiment (really)
If an adjective ends in -ant or -ent, remove the ending and add -amment or -emment. For
example:
  récent (recent) become récemment (recently)
 constant (constant) becomes constamment (constantly)
Irregular adverbs

The adjectives bon (good), mauvais (bad) and meilleur (better) are irregular when they

become adverbs. Instead of adding -ment, they become new words.

Adjective Adverb Example

bon (good) bien (well) Il joue bien du piano. (He plays the piano well.)

Hier, il a mal joué parce qu’il était malade. (Yesterday, he

mauvais (bad) mal (badly)
played badly because he was ill.)

J’espère qu’il va mieux jouer demain. (I hope he will play better

meilleur (better) mieux (better)
tomorrow.)