ADVERBS

What is an adverb?
An adverb gives information about the action or state conveyed by the verb. Usually adverbs can be
recognised by the way they answer questions (How? When? Where? Why?) asked of the verb.
e.g.
They ate quickly. (How did they eat? --> quickly)
We saw them often. (When did we see them? --> often)
I went there. (Where did I go? --> there)

Adverbs can also give information about

other adverbs (he ran fairly quickly)
adjectives (her eyes are very blue)
prepositions (right behind them)

The function of adverbs in French is similar to English.

Formation of Adverbs in French

The great majoriy of adverbs in English are formed by simply adding -ly or -ally to the corresponding
adjective.
e.g.: slow --> slowly; extreme --> extremely; musical --> musically

Similarly, the great majority of French adverbs are formed by adding -ment to the feminine singular
form of the adjective.
e.g.: agrable (-) --> agrablement; brutal (-e) --> brutalement; artificiel (-lle) --> artificiellement; craintif
(-ive) --> craintivement; curieux (-se) --> curieusement; grossier (-re) --> grossirement; fou (folle) -->
follement

With a few exceptions, adjectives ending in a vowel form their adverb from the masculine rather than
the feminine singular form.
e.g.:dcid (-e) --> dcidment; hardi (-e) --> hardiment; vrai (-e) --> vraiment

Exceptions
The exceptions to the above rules fall into five categories
Adverbs ending in -ment arising from adjective forms not ending in
e.g.: confus (-e) --> confusment, prcis (-e) --> prcisment

aveugle (-) --> aveuglment commode (-) --> commodment

commun (-e) --> communment conforme (-) --> conformment
confus (-e) --> confusment diffus (-e) --> diffusment
norme (-) --> normment exprs (expresse) --> expressment
exquis (-e) --> exquisment immense (-) --> immensment
importun (-e) --> importunment incommode (-) --> incommodment
inopportun (-e) --> inopportunment intense (-) --> intensment
obscur (-e) --> obscurment opportun (-e) --> opportunment
prcis (-e) --> prcisment profond (-e) --> profondment
profus (-e) --> profusment uniforme (-) --> uniformment
 Many adjectives ending in -u form adverbs ending in -ment
e.g.: cru (-e) --> crment

assidu (-e) --> assidment congru (-e) --> congrment

continu (-e) --> continment cru (-e) --> crment
goulu (-e) --> goulment incongru (-e) --> incongrment
indu (-e) --> indment nu (-e) --> nment

NOTE: the following -u adjectives follow the basic rule that adjectives ending in a vowel form their
adverb from the masculine singular form

absolu (-e) --> absolument ambigu (-e) --> ambigument

d (due) --> dment perdu (-e) --> perdument
ingnu (-e) --> ingnument irrsolu (-e) --> irrsolument

Adjectives ending in -ent form adverbs ending in -emment (NB this is pronounced the same as "-
amment")
e.g. conscient (-e) --> consciemment

apparent (-e) --> apparemment ardent (-e) --> ardemment

concurrent (-e) --> concurremment
consquent (-e) --> consquemment
diffrent (-e) --> diffremment
loquent (-e) --> loquemment
excellent (-e) --> excellemment
impatient (-e) --> impatiemment
impudent (-e) --> impudemment
inconscient (-e) --> inconsciemment
indcent (-e) --> indcemment
indolent (-e) --> indolemment
insolent (-e) --> insolemment
ngligent (-e) --> ngligemment
prcdent (-e) --> prcdemment
rcent (-e) --> rcemment
conscient (-e) --> consciemment
dcent (-e) --> dcemment
diligent (-e) --> diligemment
vident (-e) --> videmment
frquent (-e) --> frquemment
imprudent (-e) --> imprudemment
incident (-e) --> incidemment
inconsquent (-e) --> inconsquemment
indiffrent (-e) --> indiffremment
innocent (-e) --> innocemment
intelligent (-e) --> intelligemment
patient (-e) --> patiemment
prudent (-e) --> prudemment
subsquent (-e) --> subsquemment

THREE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE ARE:

lent (-) --> lentement; prsent (-e) --> prsentement; vhement (-e) --> vhementement

Adjectives ending in -ant form adverbs ending in -amment

e.g. suffisant (-e) --> suffisamment

abondant (-e) --> abondamment arrogant (-e) --> arrogamment

bienveillant (-e) --> bienveillamment
complaisant (-e) --> complaisamment
courant (-e) --> couramment
tonnant (-e) --> tonnamment
incessant (-e) --> incessamment
insuffisant (-e) --> insuffisamment
obligeant (-e) --> obligeamment
plaisant (-e) --> plaisamment
savant (-e) --> savamment
brillant (-e) --> brillamment
constant (-e) --> constamment
dsobligeant (-e) --> dsobligeamment
galant (-e) --> galamment
inlgant (-e) --> inlgamment
nonchalant (-e) --> nonchalamment
pesant (-e) --> pesamment
puissant (-e) --> puissamment
suffisant (-e) --> suffisamment
surabondant (-e) --> surabondamment vaillant (-e) --> vaillamment
vigilant (-e) --> vigilamment

4 irregular -ment adverbs

gai (-e) --> gaiement/gament; gentil (-lle) --> gentiment; bref (brve) --> brivement; impuni (-e) --
impunment

More about adverbs

The rules above relate only to adverbs ending in -ment and formed from adjectives.
There are many other adverbs in French:
interrogative adverbs such as combien, comment, o, pourquoi, quand
adverbs of quantity such as assez, trop, autant, tant, beaucoup, plus, moins, peu
adverbs of time such as alors, aprs, aujourd'hui, auparavant, autrefois, avant, bientt, dj, demain,
depuis, dsormais, donc, encore, enfin, ensuite, hier, jamais, longtemps, parfois, maintenant, puis,
quelquefois, souvent, tard, tt, toujours
adverbs of place such as ailleurs, autour, dedans, dehors, derrire, dessous, dessus, devant, ici, l, loin,
partout, prs, proche
adverbs of negation such as nepas, nepoint, neplus, nejamais, nerien, negure,
nepersonne

As in English, there are some adjectives that can be used as adverbs

e.g.
bas --> nous parlons bas bon --> a sent bon
chaud --> il fait chaud cher --> je l'ai vendu cher
clair --> tu ne vois pas clair court --> il nous a coup court
droit --> nous marchons droit dur --> nous travaillons dur
faux --> elle chante faux ferme --> elle tient ferme
fort --> je doute fort qu'elle vienne gros --> elle a perdu gros
haut --> elle parle haut juste --> tu as devin juste
long --> nous en savons long lourd --> cela pse lourd
mauvais --> a sent mauvais net --> elle a refus net
sec --> elle l'a bu sec

Some adverbs look very different from the corresponding adjective:

bon (bonne) --> bien; meilleur (-e) --> mieux; mauvais (-e) --> mal; petit (-e) --> peu