This document discusses the formation and usage of adverbs in French. It explains that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. It provides rules for forming adverbs from adjectives by adding "-ment" or "-emment"/"-amment" depending on how the adjective ends. The document also covers the placement of adverbs in sentences, noting that they usually follow verbs in simple tenses and past participles in compound tenses, while some short adverbs can go between the auxiliary and past participle.

1. Les adverbes

2. Usage
Adverbs modify:
Verbs (Il parle lentement)
Adjectives (Il a une très grande voiture)
Other adverbs (Elle parle bien vite)

3. Formation
Feminine form of the adjective + “-ment”:
heureux--> heureuse--> heureusement
If the masculine form of the adjective ends in a
vowel, just add “-ment”: poli--> poliment
If the adjective ends in “-ent,” add “-emment.”
If it ends in “-ant,” add “-amment”:
patient--> patiemment;
contant--> constamment

4. Practice: adverbify!
froid
sérieux
facile
fréquent
personnel
rapide
actif

5. Placement
In a simple (no auxiliary verb) tense, adverbs
follow the verb: Je vois/voyais/verrai mon
frère fréquemment (fréquent--> end in “-ent,”
so becomes “-emment).
Time adverbs and ones that modify the entire
idea of the sentence come at the beginning:
“Aujourd’hui, j’ai fait tous mes devoirs.”

6. Placement cont’d...
In the passé composé, adverbs ending in “-ment”
usually follow the past participle: “Elle a parlé
lentement.”
HOWEVER, many short, common adverbs go
between the auxiliary verb and the past participle:
“Nous avons beaucoup travaillé ce semestre.”
Other adverbs like this are: bien, mal, déjà,
encore souvent, quelquefois, assez, trop, jamais,
rien.