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Adverbes de manière
Adverbs of manner express how the action of a verb occurs. In English, the vast majority of adverbs of manner end in -ly, whereas in French, they mostly end in –ment. In French (and English), these adverbs are created from adjectives, as follows.
1) French adjective ends in vowel: add –ment
| Adjective | Adverb | Translation | ||
| bête erroné joli résolu timide vrai |
bêtement erronément joliment résolument timidement vraiment |
stupidly mistakenly nicely resolutely timidly truly, really |
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| Exceptions | ||||
| gai mou nouveau |
gaiement mollement nouvellement |
gaily softly newly |
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2) Adjective ends in consonant*: make feminine, then add –ment
| Adjective | Feminine | Adverb | Translation | |||
| actuel certain décisif frais heureux premier |
actuelle certaine décisive fraîche heureuse première |
actuellement certainement décisivement fraîchement heureusement premièrement |
currently certainly decisively freshly fortunately firstly |
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| Exceptions | ||||||
| bref gentil |
brève gentille |
brièvement gentiment |
briefly kindly |
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* Except –nt, see 3, below.
Some adverbs follow the above rules with an additional requirement: the e in front of –ment takes on an acute accent.
| Adjective | Adverb | Translation | ||
| confus dense énorme obscur précis profond |
confusément densément énormément obscurément précisément profondément |
confusedly densely enormously obscurely precisely profoundly |
3) Adjective ends in –ant or –ent**: replace this ending with –amment or –emment.
| Adjective | Adverb | Translation | ||
| apparent fréquent instant méchant récent suffisant |
apparemment fréquemment instamment méchamment récemment suffisamment |
apparently frequently insistently spitefully recently sufficiently |
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| Exception | ||||
| lent | lentement | slowly | ||
** These are usually present participles.
Some French adverbs of manner aren’t derived from adjectives:
| ainsi | thus, so | |
| bien | well | |
| comme | as, like | |
| debout | standing up | |
| ensemble | together | |
| exprès | on purpose | |
| mal | poorly, badly | |
| mieux | better | |
| néanmoins | nevertheless | |
| pire | worse | |
| vite | quickly | |
| volontiers | gladly |
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N’importe literally means “no matter” or “(it) doesn’t matter.” This indefinite expression can precede an interrogative adjective, adverb, or pronoun when talking about something indefinite or non-specific.