Adverbs

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 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
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   heureusemen   fortunately
t
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   somewhere   trop   too much
part 
 
Adverbs of Time Exclamative Adverbs

bientôt   soon   ce que   how, so

déjà   already   combien (de)   so much/many
hier   yesterday   comme   how, so
longtemps   for a long time   que (de)   how, so
maintenant     now   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
 
Comparative Adverbs Superlative Adverbs

moins   less   le moins   the least

plus   more, ___er   le plus   the most, the ___est
aussi   as        
       
Pronominal Adverbs

en   of it        
y   there        

French Adverbs and Word Order

Very generally speaking, when adverbs modify verbs, they are placed after the (first) verb.

Je travaille beaucoup.   I work a lot.

 J’ai beaucoup travaillé.   I worked a lot.

Je dois beaucoup   I have to work a lot.

travailler.

When adverbs modify any other part of speech, they precede it.

Je suis très fatigué.   I’m very tired.

Je suis assez souvent   I’m tired fairly often.

fatigué.

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.