 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Adverbes
One of the eight parts of speech, adverbs are descriptors: they can modify several different parts of speech, including themselves. Virtually every French word that ends in -ment is an adverb, equivalent to -ly in English. But there are also many adverbs that don’t end in -ment.
Characteristics of French Adverbs
- May modify verbs, adjectives, prepositions, or other adverbs
- Are invariable
- Are categorized according to type of modification
- Follow specific placement rules
Types of French Adverbs
Here are the different types of French adverbs with a few examples of each. Click the titles for detailed lessons on each type.
Adverbs of Frequency |
Adverbs of Manner |
|||||
| jamais | ever | bien | well | |||
| parfois | sometimes | heureusement | fortunately | |||
| rarement | rarely | mal | poorly | |||
| souvent | often | poliment | politely | |||
| toujours | always | vite | quickly | |||
Adverbs of Place |
Adverbs of Quantity |
|||||
| dehors | outside | assez | quite, fairly | |||
| ici | here | beaucoup | a lot | |||
| là | there | peu | few, little | |||
| partout | everywhere | très | very | |||
| quelque part | somewhere | trop | too much | |||
Adverbs of Time |
Comparative Adverbs |
|||||
| bientôt | soon | moins | less | |||
| déjà | already | plus | more, ___er | |||
| hier | yesterday | aussi | as | |||
| longtemps | for a long time | |||||
| maintenant | now | |||||
Evaluative Adverbs |
Exclamative Adverbs |
|||||
| absolument | absolutely | ce que | how, so | |||
| certes | certainly | combien (de) | so much/many | |||
| peut-être | perhaps | comme | how, so | |||
| presque | almost | que (de) | how, so | |||
| vraiment | really | qu’est-ce que | how, so | |||
Interrogative Adverbs |
Negative Adverbs |
|||||
| combien | how much/many | ne … guère | hardly | |||
| comment | how | ne … jamais | never | |||
| où | where | ne … pas | not | |||
| pourquoi | why | ne … plus | not any more | |||
| quand | when | ne … que | only | |||
Pronominal Adverbs |
Superlative Adverbs |
|||||
| en | of it | le moins | the least | |||
| y | there | le plus | the most, the ___est | |||
French Adverbs and Word Order
Very generally speaking, when adverbs modify verbs, they are placed after the (first) verb.
Par exemple…
| Je travaille beaucoup. | I work a lot. | |
| J’ai beaucoup travaillé. | I worked a lot. |
When adverbs modify any other part of speech, they precede it.
Par exemple…
| Je suis très fatigué. | I’m very tired. | |
| Je suis assez souvent fatigué. | I’m tired fairly often. |
Learn more: Adverb position
Related lessons
- PwLF super list of adverb lessons
- Adjectives
- Adjectives used as adverbs
- Adverbs used as adjectives
- Prepositions
- Verbs
- Parts of speech
En español
In italiano
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
The French lessons and comprehension exercises on this site are ranked according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which describes six levels of language proficiency.
When a word ending in a normally silent consonant is followed by a vowel or h muet, that consonant might be transferred onto the next word. This is called a liaison and it’s one of the aspects of French pronunciation that can make it difficult to determine where one word ends and the next begins.
Aller is one of the most common and important French verbs. It generally means “to go,” is key to the near future construction, and is also found in many expressions. This issue of Lawless French à fond takes an in-depth look at going everywhere with