French dialects are not particularly difficult, but they still contain a few secrets that we will reveal together. This article will look at the placement of adverbs in the French language, their formation, and most importantly, we will give you an extensive list of the most useful French adverbs to know.
An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, an adjective, or another adverb. Often expresses how the subject performs an action. In French, many adverbs are formed by adding an ending to the feminine or masculine form of a cognate French adjective. Other adverbs are entirely different and need to be memorized.
Adverbs in French usually occupy the same position in a sentence as in English.
The "-ly" ending allows us to recognize some English adverbs. While the equivalent ending in French is ''ment''. However, unlike the obligatory agreement of French adjectives, adverbs in French do not agree with anything because they change adverbs, adjectives, or verbs, but not pronouns or nouns.
Follow these two rules to form an adverb:
Adjective | Adverb |
Poli (polite) | Poliment (politely) |
Facile (easy) | Facilement (easily) |
Rapide (rapid) | Rapidement (rapidly) |
Masculine Form Of The Adjective | Feminine Form Of The Adjective | Adverb |
Doux (gentle) | Douce | Doucement (gently) |
Franc (frank) | Franche | Franchement (frankly) |
Attentive (attentive) | Attentive | Attentivement (attentively) |
Seul (only) | Seule | Seulement (only) |
There are some exceptions to the rules when forming French adverbs, These are:
Adjective | Adverb |
Intense (intense) | Intensément (intensely) |
Profonde (profound) | Profondément (profoundly) |
Précis (precise) | Précisément (precisely) |
Adjective | Adverb |
Courant (common) | Couramment (fluently) |
Récent (recent) | Récemment (recently) |
Constant (constant) | Constamment (constantly) |
Adjective | Adverb |
Bon (good) | Bien (well) |
Mauvais (bad) | Mal (badly) |
Meilleur | Mieux (better) |
Petit (little, small) | Peu (little) |
absolument | absolutely |
actuellement | currently |
ailleurs | elsewhere |
alors | so |
ainsi | thus; so |
après | after |
assez | quite, fairly |
aujourd'hui | today |
aussi | as; as well |
aussitôt | immediately |
autant | as much |
autrefois | in the old days |
autrement | differently |
autour | around |
avant | before |
avant-hier | on the day before yesterday |
avec | with |
beaucoup | a lot |
bas | low |
bien | well |
bientôt | soon |
brusquement | abruptly |
cependant | nonetheless |
certes | admittedly |
certainement | certainly |
ci | here |
combien | how much/many |
comme | as |
comment | how |
complètement | completely |
d'abord | first |
davantage | more |
debout | standing |
dehors | outside |
déjà | already |
delà | beyond |
demain | tomorrow |
depuis | since |
dernièrement | lately |
désormais | from now on, henceforth |
dessus | on top of |
devant | in front of |
également | as well/equally |
encore | again/still |
enfin | finally, eventually |
ensemble | together |
ensuite | next, then |
énormément | enormously |
environ | about |
facilement | easily |
franchement | frankly |
gentiment | kindly |
guère | hardly |
haut | high |
heureusement | fortunately |
hier | yesterday |
ici | here |
immédiatement | immediately |
jamais | never |
là | there |
là-bas | over there |
là-dedans | in here, in there |
là-dessus | on here; on there |
largement | greatly, well |
légèrement | lightly; slightly |
lentement | slowly |
loin | far |
longtemps | for a long time |
lors | when |
lors de | during |
maintenant | now |
mal | poorly, badly |
même | even |
moins | less |
naturellement | naturally |
ne | not |
non | no; not |
oui | yes |
parfois | sometimes |
partout | everywhere |
pas | not |
parfaitement | perfectly |
peu | few, little |
peut-être | perhaps |
plutôt | rather |
plus | more, ___-er |
point | hardly any; almost no |
pourquoi | why |
pourtant | yet |
précédemment | previously |
précisément | precisely |
premièrement | firstly |
près | near |
presque | nearly |
profondément | profoundly |
puis | then |
quelque | some |
quelque part | somewhere |
rapidement | rapidly |
rarement | rarely |
seulement | only |
sérieusement | seriously |
simplement | simply |
si | as/so |
soudain | suddenly |
souvent | often |
surtout | especially |
tant | so much |
tantôt | sometimes |
tard | late |
tellement | so (much) |
tôt | early |
toujours | always |
tout | all |
très | very |
trop | too much |
vite | quickly |
vraiment | really |
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