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You are here: Home / French Grammar 107 – Adverbs

French Grammar 107 – Adverbs

French adverbs’ function works in a similar way than  the English language. They modify, i.e. add to the meaning, of a verb, an adjective or another adverb.


Regular Adverbs
As in English, the bulk of French adverbs are formed by adding a suffix at the end of adjectives. Whilst in English the added suffix is –ly in French the suffix is –ment. To facilitate pronunciation, this suffix is usually added to the feminine form of the adjective unless the word already finishes by ‘e’.

For example:
final = final-ly  / finale = finale-ment
rapide = rapid-ly  / rapide = rapide-ment
strong = strong-ly  / forte = forte-ment

When adjectives in their masculine form already end in a vowel (other than ‘e’), the suffix –ment is directly added.

For example:
poli = poli-ment / polite  = politely
absolu = absolu-ment / absolute  = absolutely

In a few cases, accents are added:
continu = continû-ment / continual = continually
énorme = énormé-ment / enormous = enormously

or there are slight variations as for words ending in –ant or –ent:

brilliant = brillamment / brilliant = brilliantly
évident = évidemment / evident = evidently
Irregular Adverbs
Irregular adverbs are actually the most common in both languages.

For example:
bien / well
mal / bad
tôt / early
tard / late
très / very
peu / a little
mieux / better
beaucoup / a lot of
toujours / always
parfois / sometimes
souvent / often
autant / as much
plus / more
moins / less

Some words have different grammatical values in French or English. For example, in French, ‘meilleur’, ‘moindre’ or ‘rapide’ are adjectives when ‘better’, ‘least’ or ‘fast’ are adverbs. Confusion can also arise between words which are close in meaning but have different functions, i. e. bon/mauvais and bien/mal.

‘Bon’et ‘mauvais’ are adjectives and therefore modify nouns:
Il est bon/mauvaisen anglais – He is good / bad in English

‘Bien’ et ‘mauvais’ are adverbs and therefore modify verbs:
Elle parle bien / mal le français – She speaks French well / badly

Beware! Some adverbs are incompatibles:
Il mange beaucoup (not très)
Nous sommes beaucoup (not très)

EXERCISE: 107 Averbs | NEXT: 108 Prepositions

FRENCH BEGINNERS’ COURSE

Grammar
101 Articles
102 Pronouns
103 Nouns and Adjectives
104 Demonstrative Adjectives
105 Possessive Adjectives
106 Verbs
107 Adverbs
108 Prepositions
109 Interrogative Form
110 Negative Form


Exercises
101 Articles
102 Pronouns
103 Nouns and Adjectives
104 Demonstrative Adjectives
105 Possessive Adjectives
106 Verbs
107 Adverbs
108 Prepositions
109 Interrogative Form
110 Negative Form

Vocabulary lists
101 Numbers
102 Family
103 Greetings
104 Food and Drinks
105 Time
106 Rooms
107 City
108 Questions
109 Household Objects
110 Jobs

Listening practice
101 Articles
102 Pronouns
103 Nouns and Adjectives
104 Demonstrative Adjectives
105 Possessive Adjectives
106 Present of Verbs
107 Adverbs
108 Adverbs
109 Interrogative Form
110 Negative Form

Dialogues
101 Telephone
102 Clothes shop
103 Restaurant
104 At the Doctor
105 Taxi
106 The Bistro
107 Hotel
108 Tourism Office
109 Bus Station
110 Looking for a Place

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