Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They are not inflected - That means that they don't change their spelling according to gender or quantity.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux → heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified:

• If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to the feminine singular form:

  • vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")

  • poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")

• If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the-nt is stripped and -mment is added:

  • constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")

  • récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently") (-emment and -amment have the same pronunciation → /amã/)

• Some adjectives make other changes:

  • précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")

  • gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

• bon → bien ("good" → "well")

• mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")

• meilleur → mieux (the adjective "better" → the adverb "better")

• traditionally, pire → pis (the adjective "worse" → the adverb "worse")

• more commonly, pire → pire (the adjective "worse" → the adverb "worse")

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

• ainsi ("thus" or "this way")

• vite("quickly")

Placement

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The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs.

An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

• complètement vrai ("completely true")

• pas possible ("not possible")

• trop bien cuit ("too well cooked" or "overdone")

An adverb that modifies an infinitive often comes after the infinitive:

• marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), plus ("not any more"), and jamais, come before the infinitive:

• ne pas marcher ("not to walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

• Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly he began to walk" or "He began slowly to walk")