French/Grammar/Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they modify. Formation In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment ("-ly") 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 to accommodate the suffix: 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 corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment, respectively: constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly") récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently") 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 ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb) pire → pire ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb) And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all: ainsi ("thus" or "thusly") Placement 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") tellement discrètement ("so discreetly") An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive: marcher lentement ("to walk slowly") But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), pas plus ("not any more"), and jamais ("never") 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"). Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs: Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that") List of common adverbs Adverb English Group French Example English Translation actuellement currently time ainsi thus, so manner ainsi va la vie so life goes (nothing you can do) après afterwards time On va au cinéma après We'll go to the cinema afterwards assez enough quantity J'en ai eu assez I've had enough aussi also manner aussitôt straight away time autant as many / as much quantity autrefois in the past time autrement differently, otherwise manner avant-hier on the day before yesterday time beau, bel, belle nicely (in expressions) manner beaucoup (de) much, many quantity Merci beaucoup "Thank you very much." bien well manner bientôt soon time à très bientôt see you very soon cependant however conjunction certainement certainly affirmation certes admittedly, of course affirmation leur tâche est certes plus difficile their task is admittedly more difficult ci-dessous below place Rédigez votre message ci-dessous Write your message below combien (de) how much, many interrogative un succès, ô combien mérité a success, oh how deserved comment how interrogative complètement completely degree il se troue complètement he screws up completely davantage more, longer degree debout standing, up manner dedans inside place ils se sont rentrés dedans they crashed into each other en dehors de outside, apart from place déjà already time au delà de beyond place au delà de 35 ans over 35 years old demain tomorrow time demain soir tomorrow evening désormais from now on time devant ahead, in front place doucement gently, quietly manner également also, equally degree encore again, still time Ils jouent encore They are still playing enfin at last, finally time ensemble together manner on vie ensemble depuis longtemps we have been living together for a long time ensuite then, next time Ensuite, cela devenait très compliqué Then it became very difficult environ about degree il va être absent environ un mois he will be off for about a month facilement easily manner fort strongly manner il a démarré très fort he started very strongly heureusement fortunately manner hier yesterday time ici here, now place la course commence ici the race starts here là there place là-dedans in here, in there place il n'y a rien de mystère là-dedans there is no mystery in it là-dessus on here, on there place on reste là-dessus we stay where we are largement greatly, well degree légèrement lightly, slightly degree lentement slowly manner lentement mais sûrement slowly but surely loin far place la soirée est loin d'être finie the evening is far from over longtemps a long time time lors de during time maintenant now time Et maintenant on fait quoi? And now, what do we do? mal badly, wrongly manner malheureusement unfortunately manner même even degree moins less, least quantity néanmoins nevertheless manner parfois sometimes time La vie est parfois cruelle Life is sometimes cruel partout everywhere place peu little degree on peut respirer un peu mieux we can breathe a little easier peut-être perhaps affirmation la prochaine fois, peut-être next time, perhaps plus more quantity nous sommes plus que jamais déterminés we are more determined than ever plutôt rather degree pourquoi why interrogative pourtant yet Si près, et pourtant si loin ! So near, and yet so far! près close place presque almost degree puis then time quelque approximately quantity on supporte le parti quelque soit les sondages we support the party whatever the opinion polls quelquefois sometimes time je joue quelquefois du piano I sometimes play the piano récemment recently time seulement only degree si yes, so, however, as affirmation ils ne méritent pas d'être en si bonne position they don't deserve to be in as good a position souvent often time surtout above all manner tant so much quantity un événement tant attendu a much awaited event tantôt sometimes, this afternoon time tard late time tellement so much, so many degree la météo est tellement imprévisible the weather is so unpredictable tôt soon, early time les billets ont été épuisés plus tôt que prévu the tickets were sold out earlier than expected toujours still, always time tout very, quite degree tout à fait justifié totally justified très very degree trop too many, too much quantity vite quickly manner vraiment really, truly affirmation y to it, there place es:Francés/Gramática/El adverbio