Adverbs

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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

1. May modify verbs, adjectives, prepositions, or other adverbs
2. Are invariable
3. Are categorized according to type of modification
4. 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.
Je dois beaucoup travailler.		I have to work 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.
Il habite tout près de moi.		He lives quite near me.

Word order with adverbs will be addressed in more detail in a future lesson.

 Related lessons

• PwLF super list of adverb lessons
• Adjectives
• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Adverbs used as adjectives
• Prepositions
• Verbs
• Parts of speech
   

 En español

• Adverbios
   

 In italiano

• Avverbi
   

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