Adverbs add to a verb, an adjective or another adverb and never change form; most come right after the verb. The adverb goes right after the verb, before its object: Je parle bien français. J’aime beaucoup le café.
Summary
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| Point | Rule | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invariable | an adverb never agrees | Elles parlent bien. | They speak well. | |
| Très | before an adjective or an adverb | Elle est très grande. | She is very tall. | |
| Beaucoup | after the verb | Il mange beaucoup. | He eats a lot. | |
| Manner | bien ≠ mal | Léa chante bien. / Paul dort mal. | Léa sings well. / Paul sleeps badly. | |
| Degree | un peu / assez / trop + adjective | C’est trop cher. | It's too expensive. | |
| Position | right after the verb, before the object | Je parle bien français. | I speak French well. | |
| Frequency | toujours / souvent / parfois | Nous mangeons souvent ici. | We often eat here. | |
| Time | déjà / encore | Tu as déjà fini ? | Have you finished already? | |
| ‑ment adverbs | adjective + ‑e + ‑ment | Heureusement, il est là. | Fortunately, he is here. | |
| Passé composé | a short adverb between the helper and the participle | J’ai beaucoup travaillé. | I worked a lot. | |
| Trap | très never goes with a verb: use beaucoup | J’aime beaucoup le café. | I like coffee a lot. |
Overview
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- An adverb adds to a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Elle chante bien. / Il est très grand. / Elle parle très bien.She sings well. / He is very tall. / She speaks very well.
- An adverb never changes form. Il parle bien. / Elles parlent bien.He speaks well. / They speak well.
- Adjectives do agree: see Adjectives.
- For plus vite and mieux, see Comparatives and Superlatives.
- For jamais, plus and pas encore, see Negation.
Use: common adverbs
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| Use | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| très before an adjective or an adverb | Il est très grand. / Elle parle très bien. | He is very tall. / She speaks very well. | |
| beaucoup after a verb | Il travaille beaucoup. / J’aime beaucoup ce film. | He works a lot. / I like this film a lot. | |
| bien and mal say how an action is done | Elle chante bien. / Il dort mal. | She sings well. / He sleeps badly. | |
| un peu after a verb or before an adjective | Je parle un peu anglais. / C’est un peu cher. | I speak a little English. / It's a bit expensive. | |
| trop: more than is right, after a verb or before an adjective | Il mange trop. / C’est trop loin. | He eats too much. / It's too far. | |
| assez: enough or fairly, after a verb or before an adjective | Tu dors assez ? / Cette chambre est assez grande. | Do you sleep enough? / This room is quite big. |
- Before a noun, the forms are beaucoup de, trop de, assez de: see Partitives and Quantities.
Frequency and time words
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| Use | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| toujours: always | Il est toujours en retard. | He is always late. | |
| souvent: often | Nous mangeons souvent ici. | We often eat here. | |
| parfois: sometimes | Parfois, je prends le bus. | Sometimes I take the bus. | |
| déjà: already | Tu as déjà fini ? | Have you finished already? | |
| encore: still | Il dort encore. | He is still asleep. | |
| encore: more, again | Tu veux encore du thé ? | Would you like some more tea? | |
| toujours: still | Elle habite toujours à Lyon. | She still lives in Lyon. |
Position of the adverb
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| Use | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| right after the verb, before the object | Je parle bien français. / J’aime beaucoup le café. | I speak French well. / I like coffee a lot. | |
| before the adjective or adverb it modifies | Elle est très gentille. / Il court trop vite. | She is very kind. / He runs too fast. | |
| souvent and parfois can also open the sentence | Parfois, il dort ici. / Il dort ici parfois. | Sometimes he sleeps here. / He sleeps here sometimes. | |
| in the passé composé, a short adverb goes between the helper and the participle: déjà / bien / mal / beaucoup / trop / toujours / souvent | J’ai déjà mangé. / Il a beaucoup travaillé. | I have already eaten. / He worked a lot. |
- For how the passé composé is formed, see Passé Composé: j’ai mangé.
Form: adverbs in ‑ment
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| Masculine | Feminine | Adverb | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| bon | bonne | bien | |
| mauvais | mauvaise | mal | |
| heureux / doux / lent | heureuse / douce / lente | heureusement / doucement / lentement | |
| rapide / facile | rapide / facile | rapidement / facilement | |
| poli / vrai | polie / vraie | poliment / vraiment | |
| récent / prudent | récente / prudente | récemment / prudemment |
- A ‑ment adverb is built on the feminine of the adjective: lent → lente → lentement. Il parle lentement. / Elle répond poliment.He speaks slowly. / She answers politely.
- ‑ent becomes ‑emment, which is pronounced like ‑amment. Elle conduit prudemment /pʁydamɑ̃/. · Il est arrivé récemment /ʁesamɑ̃/.She drives carefully. / He arrived recently.
- After certain verbs, an adjective serves as an adverb and stays invariable: coûter cher, parler fort. Ce sac coûte cher. / Ils parlent fort.This bag is expensive. / They talk loudly.
Typical errors
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| Wrong | Right | Rule | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| J’aime très le café. | J’aime beaucoup le café. | très does not go before a verb: the word is beaucoup | |
| Merci très beaucoup. | Merci beaucoup. | beaucoup already means “very much”: merci beaucoup, with no très | |
| Je parle français bien. | Je parle bien français. | the adverb goes right after the verb: je parle bien français, not “I speak French well” | |
| J’aime le café beaucoup. | J’aime beaucoup le café. | the adverb comes before the object: j’aime beaucoup le café, not “I like coffee a lot” | |
| J’ai mangé déjà. | J’ai déjà mangé. | a short adverb goes between the helper and the participle: j’ai déjà mangé, not “I've eaten already” | |
| Il est arrivé récentement. | Il est arrivé récemment. | ‑ent becomes ‑emment in the adverb: récemment |