Jeudi ,le 3 Aout 2023

L’adverbe - adverb
 Definition of adverb : In French, adverbs are a
category of words that modify verbs,adjectives,other
adverbs or whole sentence.
 They provide additional information about
How,When,Where or To What extent an action or
quality is performed.
 In English, many adverbs ends with –ly , but in
French there is no specific suffix that identifies
adverbs.
 FUNCTION of Adverbs : adverbs serves various
functions such as:
1) Modifying Verbs : adverbs describe how an action is
performed .
Eg : she sings well . elle chante bien .
He speaks quickly . il parle rapidement .
2) Modifying Adjectives : adverb can modify adjectives
by providing more information about the quality or
something .
Eg: the movie is very interesting .
Le movie est très intéressant .
The dinner is really delicious.
Le diner est vraiement délicieux .
3)Modify other adverbs : adverbs can modify other
adverbs to indicate the intensity .
Eg : he walks very slowly .
Il marche très lentement .

She speaks quite clearly .

Elle parle assez clairement .
4)Modify whole sentence : adverb can modify entire
sentence to express the speaker’s attitude or
viewpoint.
Eg : fortunately , everything is fine
Heureusement, tout va bien .
 Formation of Adverbs : In French , adverbs are often
formed by adding specific endings to adjectives.
 The most common endings are as follow :
1)Add –ment to an adjective of feminine form .
Fast - rapidement ( fastly/rapidly)
Happy – heureusement ( happily/fortunately)
2)Adjective that ends with –ant or –ent : some
adverbs are formed from the present participle of
verbs,which ends in –ant or –ent . to create the
adverb , replace the –ant or –ent by –amment or –
emment .
Eg : courant ( current) – couramment
évident ( obvious ) – évidemment ( obviously)
 Placement of Adverbs :
- Most adverbs are placed after the verb they
modify .
Eg : il parle rapidement .
- If the verb is in negative form , the adverb is
placed after the nagation .
Eg : je ne comprends pas bien .
- Adverbs are placed directly before other adverbs
or adjectives.
eg : ton frère conduit très vite .
ce livre est vraiement intéressant .