ADVERBS Adverbs provide information about the words they modify, such as when, where, how, how often, or to what degree something is done.
PLACEMENT OF FRENCH ADVERBS . 1. When a French adverb modifies a verb, it is placed after the conjugated verb. Nous avons bien mangé. We ate well . Je regarde souvent la télé le soir. I often watch TV in the evening. OR Often , I watch TV in the evening OR I watch TV in the evening often . 2. When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it is placed in front of the word it is modifying.
Je suis tellement nerveux. Elle est vraiment grosse. Nous avons très bien mangé.
I am so nervous. (With adjective) She is really fat. (With adjective) We ate very well. (With another adverb)
TYPES OF ADVERBS 1. ADVERBS OF MANNER (Answers how in English), (comment) Adverbs of manner explain how something happens. The majority of French adverbs of manner end in -ment, which is usually equivalent to the English ending -ly. These adverbs are formed from French adjectives, as follows: I.
If the French adjective ends in a vowel, add -ment to form the adverb Adjective French adverb English translation absolu absolument absolutely admirable admirablement admirably nécessaire nécessairement necessarily passionné passionnément passionately poli poliment politely rude rudement roughly vrai vraiment truly
II.
If the French adjective ends in a consonant, add -ment to the feminine form Masculine adj Feminine adjective French adverb English translation amical amicale amicalement in a friendly way éventuel éventuelle éventuellement possibly
franc normal premier rapid sérieux vif Exceptions: bref gentil
franche normale première rapide sérieuse vive
franchement normalement premièrement rapidement sérieusement vivement
frankly normally firstly rapidly seriously sharply, deeply
brève gentile
brièvement gentiment
briefly kindly
I/IIa. Rules I and II ensure that French adverbs have a vowel immediately preceding the -ment ending. The following adverbs follow one of the above rules, but require an acute accent on this vowel: aveugle aveuglément blindly commun communément commonly conforme conformément in accordance énorme énormément enormously intense intensément intensely obscur obscurément obscurely précis précisément precisely profond profondément profoundly uniforme uniformément uniformly III.
If the French adjective ends in -ant or -ent, remove the ending and add -amment or – emment Adjective French adverb English translation apparent apparemment apparently bruyant bruyamment loudly constant constamment constantly intelligent intelligemment intelligently patient patiemment patiently suffisant suffisamment sufficiently Exception: lent lentement Slowly
Irregular adverbs bref gentil
brièvement gentiment
Briefly Kindly
There are a few French adverbs of manner that don't end in -ment: bien Well Exprès on purpose mal poorly, badly Mieux Better pire Worse vite Quickly Volontiers Gladly ADVERBS OF TIME (Answers when in English) (quand): French adverbs of time explain when something happens. Examples: actuellement à la fois alors après après-demain aujourd'hui auparavant aussitôt autrefois avant avant-hier bientôt cependant d'abord de bonne heure déjà demain depuis dernièrement désormais dorénavant enfin en même temps ensuite hier il y a immédiatement
Currently at the same time Then After the day after tomorrow Today previously, beforehand Immediately formerly, in the past Before the day before yesterday Soon Meanwhile first, at first Early already, ever Tomorrow Since Lately from now/then on from now/then on at last, finally at the same time Next Yesterday Ago Immediately
longtemps maintenant n'importe quand précédemment puis récemment tard tôt tout à coup tout à l'heure tout de suite
for a long time Now Anytime Previously Then Recently Late Early all of a sudden a little while ago, in a little while Immediately
Adverbs of time which refer to specific days can be placed at the beginning or end of the sentence. Aujourd'hui, je vais acheter une voiture. Elles arriveront demain.
Today, I'm going to buy a car. They'll arrive tomorrow.
ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY (Answers how often in English) Adverbs of frequency are usually placed after the verb. Exception: parfois is normally placed at the beginning of the sentence. Je fais toujours mes devoirs. Parfois, Luc ne fait pas ses devoirs.
I always do my homework. Sometimes Luc doesn't do his homework.
French adverbs of frequency explain how often something occurs. encore encore une fois jamais parfois quelquefois rarement souvent toujours
Again one more time never, ever sometimes sometimes Rarely Often always
tous les jours (mois, ans, etc) every day (month, year, etc) toutes les semaines (heures, etc)every week (hour, etc) une fois, deux fois once, twice trois, quatre... fois three, four... times
ADVERBS OF QUANTITY (Answers how much, how many of English) Combien de French adverbs of quantity explain how many or how much. assez (de) quite, fairly, enough autant (de) as much, as many beaucoup (de) a lot, many bien de* quite a few combien (de) how many, much davantage More encore de* More environ around, approximately la majorité de* the majority of la minorité de* the minority of moins (de) less, fewer un nombre de a number of pas mal de quite a few (un) peu (de) few, little, not very la plupart de* Most plus (de) More une quantité de a lot of seulement Only si So tant (de) so much, so many tellement So très Very trop (de) too much, too many un/e verre/boîte/kilo dea glass/can/kg/bit of (more quantities) Adverbs of quantity (except très) are often followed by de + noun. When this happens, the noun usually does not have an article in front of it; i.e., de stands alone, with no definite article.* Il y a beaucoup de problèmes - There are a lot of problems. J'ai moins d'étudiants que Thierry - I have fewer students than Thierry.
ADVERBS OF PLACE (Answers where of English) Ou Adverbs of place are usually found after the direct object. Il a mis ton sac à dos là-bas. He put your backpack over there. J'ai trouvé le livre ici. I found the book here. Adverbes de lieu ailleurs
elsewhere
autour
around
ci-
___ here
d'ailleurs
besides
dedans
inside
dehors
outside
derrière
behind
dessous
below
dessus
above
devant
in front
en bas
down(stairs)
en haut
up(stairs)
ici
here
là
there
là-
___ there
loin
far away
n'importe où anywhere nulle part
nowhere
partout
everywhere
près
near
quelque part somewhere
French adverbs of place explain where something occurs.
COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADVERBS Comparatives and superlatives are adverbs that let you make comparisons between two or more things. Their names indicate the difference between them: comparatives compare two or more things, while superlatives express extremes. Introduction to French Comparatives Comparatives express relative superiority or inferiority; that is, that something is more or less than something else. In addition, comparatives can say that two things are equal. There are three types of comparatives, but four different Ads 1. Superiority: plus... (de or que) more... than, _____er than Laure est plus sportive (qu'Anne). Laure is more athletic (than Anne). 2. Inferiority: moins... (de or que) less.... than Rouen est moins cher (que Paris). Rouen is less expensive (than Paris). 3. Equality: a. aussi.... (de or que) as... as Tu es aussi sympathique que Chantal. You're as nice as Chantal. b. autant (de or que) as much/many as Je travaille autant qu'elle. I work as much as she does. For detailed information about how to use comparatives, including whether to use de or que and the difference between aussi andautant , please see my lesson on French comparatives .
Introduction to French Superlatives Superlatives express ultimate superiority or inferiority, claiming that one thing is the most or least of all. There are two types of French superlatives: 1. Superiority: le plus the most, the _____est C'est le livre le plus intéressant du monde. It's the most interesting book in the world.
2. Inferiority: le moins the least Nous avons acheté la voiture la moins chère. We bought the least expensive car. Interrogative adverbs are used to ask for new information or facts. The most common French interrogative adverbs are: 1. combien (de) - how many/much 2. comment - how, what 3. où - where 4. pourquoi - why 5. quand - when All of these interrogative adverbs can be used to ask questions with either est-ce que orinversion . Quand manges-tu ? Quand est-ce que tu manges ? When do you eat? Combien de livres veut-il ? Combien de livres est-ce qu'il veut ? How many books does he want? Où habite-t-elle ? Où est-ce qu'elle habite ? Where does she live? In negative constructions, adverbs which would normally follow the verb are placed after pas. Je mange bien ==> Je ne mange pas bien. I eat well ==> I don't eat well. Tu travailles trop ==> Tu ne travailles pas trop. You work too much ==> You don't work too much. Adverbs which modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed in front of the word they modify. Je suis très heureuse. I'm very happy. Chantal fait assez souvent ses devoirs. Chantal does her homework fairly often.