A2
Adverbs in -ment
How French forms adverbs with -ment, the endings that behave differently, and where the adverb goes in a sentence.
Take the feminine form of the adjective and add -ment. English -ly does the same job from the plain form; French goes through the feminine first.
| lent → lente → lentement | slowly |
| heureux → heureuse → heureusement | fortunately |
| doux → douce → doucement | gently |
Parlez lentement, s’il vous plaît.
speak-you slowly, if-it you pleases
Please speak slowly.
Adjectives ending in a vowel skip the step
If the masculine already ends in a vowel, -ment goes straight on: vrai → vraiment, poli → poliment, absolu → absolument.
vraiement
vraiment
Vrai ends in a vowel, so the feminine is not used. Vraiement is a spelling that does not exist.
-ant and -ent become -amment and -emment
| constant → constamment | |
| évident → évidemment | |
| récent → récemment |
Both are pronounced -amment. Évidemment is said as though it were spelt évidamment, which is worth knowing before you meet it.
Some adjectives double as adverbs
Parler fort, coûter cher, travailler dur, sentir bon. No ending is added, and no agreement is made.
Ça coûte cher.
that costs expensive
That’s expensive.
Where it goes
After the verb in a simple tense, not between subject and verb as English often allows.
Il parle bien français.
he speaks well French
He speaks French well.
Il bien parle français.
Il parle bien français.
Nothing separates a French subject from its verb except a pronoun. The adverb goes after.
In the passé composé, short adverbs go between the auxiliary and the participle — il a bien parlé — while longer ones in -ment usually follow the participle.