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13 - Adverbs

Basic adverbs​

Most french adverbs end in -ment, and the ones that don’t are special adverbs, like the adverbs of time or irregular adverbs.

Adverbs of manner​

Adverbs of manner describe how an action is performed. They answer the question "How?". Many adverbs of manner in French are formed by adding the suffix "-ment" to the feminine singular form of an adjective.

info

You can think of adverbs of manner as the normal way of using adverbs.

Common adverbs of manner​

  • lentement (slowly)
  • rapidement (quickly)
  • facilement (easily)
  • difficilement (with difficulty)
  • bien (well)
  • mal (badly)
  • fort (strongly)
  • doucement (gently)
  • bruyamment (noisily)
  • calmement (calmly)

How to form adverbs from adjectives (adverbs of manner)​

  1. Adjective ends in a consonant: Take the feminine singular form of the adjective and add "-ment".
    • Example: lent (slow) -> feminine: lente -> adverb: lentement (slowly)
    • Example: heureux (happy) -> feminine: heureuse -> adverb: heureusement (happily)
  2. Adjective ends in a vowel: Add "-ment" directly to the masculine singular form of the adjective.
    • Example: vrai (true) -> adverb: vraiment (truly)
    • Example: poli (polite) -> adverb: poliment (politely)
  3. Adjectives ending in -ant or -ent: Replace "-ant" with "-amment" and "-ent" with "-emment".
    • Example: constant (constant) -> adverb: constamment (constantly)
    • Example: évident (evident) -> adverb: évidemment (evidently)

adverbs placement​

  • General Rule: Adverbs usually follow the verb they modify in the present tense.
    • Je parle rapidement. (I speak quickly, Hablo rápidamente.)
    • Nous allons souvent au cinéma. (We often go to the cinema, Vamos a menudo al cine.)
  • Adverbs of Time: Often placed at the sentence’s beginning or end for emphasis.
    • Aujourd’hui, je suis fatigué. (Today, I’m tired, Hoy estoy cansado.)
    • Je vais à l’école tôt. (I go to school early, Voy a la escuela temprano.)

Irregular adverbs​

Here are the main irregular adverbs you should memorize:

AdjectiveAdverb
bon (good)bien (well)
mal (bad)mauvais (badly)

Adverbs of time​

Common adverbs of time​

  • Quelquefois = sometimes
  • Tout le temps = all the time
  • A temps = on time
  • Tous le jours = every day
  • aujourd’hui (today, hoy): Je vais au marché aujourd’hui. (I go to the market today.)
  • demain (tomorrow, mañana): Nous partons demain. (We leave tomorrow.)
  • hier (yesterday, ayer): Elle était ici hier. (She was here yesterday.)
  • souvent (often, a menudo): Ils parlent souvent français. (They often speak French.)
  • tôt (early, temprano): Je me lève tôt. (I wake up early.)
  • tard (late, tarde): Il arrive tard. (He arrives late.)
  • maintenant (now, ahora): On mange maintenant. (We’re eating now.)
  • toujours (always, siempre): Tu es toujours occupé. (You’re always busy.)
  • parfois = sometimes
  • bientôt = soon
  • jamais = never
  • ensuite = (then, next)
  • finalement = (finally)
    • Chaque jour/semaine/mois/année = (every day/week/month/year):
      • Je fais du sport chaque jour. (I do sports every day.)
    • Une fois par semaine/mois/an = (once a week/month/year):
      • Nous allons au restaurant une fois par mois. (We go to the restaurant once a month.)
    • En ce moment = at the moment
      • Nous mangeons en ce moment. (We are eating at the moment.)
    • Ce matin/soir/après-midi = this morning/evening/afternoon
      • Elle arrive ce matin. (She is arriving this morning.)

"Later" in depth​

To say “late”, you say tard. To say “later”, you have the literal french translation of “more late”, where “more” is plus and “late” is “tard”, giving you plus tard.

  • tard = late (it’s late)
  • plus tard = later
  • un peu plus tard = a little late

To say that you arrived late or that something came late, it’s a different word with the same base:

  • en retard = late

Therefore it’s imperative to memorize the difference between tard, plus tard, and en retard. For example, to say “we go late”, you would say “nous allons en retard”, but to say “it’s getting late,” you would say “C’est tard”

Adverbs of place​

  • ici = here
  • là = there
  • là-bas = over there
  • partout = everywhere
  • nulle part = nowhere
  • dessus = above, on top
  • dessous = below, underneath
  • devant = in front
  • derrière = behind
  • dedans = inside
  • dehors = outside
  • près = near
  • loin = far

Practice​

step 1: translation

Translate these 5 sentences to french:

  • Hablo francés hoy. (I speak French today.)
  • Siempre llego temprano a la escuela. (I always arrive early at school.)
  • Ella trabaja lentamente con su hermano. (She works slowly with her brother.)
  • Ayer fuimos al mercado grande. (Yesterday we went to the big market.)
  • Ahora tenemos una casa bonita. (Now we have a beautiful house.)

step 1.5: converting adjectives to adverbs

Convert the following adjectives into adverbs of manner and then use them in a sentence:

  • clair (clear)
  • sérieux (serious)
  • patient (patient)
  • absolu (absolute)
  • naturel (natural)

step 2: quiz