2. Adverbs are words used to describe a verb, an
adjective or another adverb.
They can be divided into four groups:
• How something happens
• Where something happens
• When something happens
• To what extent
3. Formation of adverbs
In English, most adverbs are made from an
adjective + LY. To form French adverbs you
start with the adjective and add MENT:
• To the masculine singular form of the
adjective if it ends in a vowel:
Vrai Vraiment
• To the feminine singular form of the adjective
if it ends in a consonant:
Malheureux Malheureusement
4. Formation of adverbs
Exceptions:
• Some adverbs have an extra accent compared
to the original adjective.
Énorme énormément
• ENT/ANT EMMENT/AMMENT
Brillant brillamment
5. Common irregular adverbs:
• Très - Very
• Assez - Rather/fairly
• Trop - Too
• Beaucoup - A lot
• Vite - Quickly
• Bien - Well
• Mal - Badly
• Même - Even
• Tout - All/quite/completely
• Peu - Little/not much
• Encore - Again
6. Position of adverbs
• Adverbs usually follow the verb:
Je regarde beaucoup la télé.
• Adverbs often come before the adjective or another
adverb:
Elle est très sympa.
Nous les adorons vraiment beaucoup.
• In a compound tense, adverbs come between the
auxiliary and the past participle:
Il s’est souvent réveillé à bonne heure.
• Many verbs of time and place follow the past
participle:
J’ai vu ma tante hier.
