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Adverbs

4 May 2026

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs don’t have gender, they never change form to agree with they word they are modifying.

Formation

Many adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives by adding -ment to the feminine singular form:

When the masculine form already ends in a vowel, -ment is added directly to it:

Adjectives ending in -ant and -ent have their own patterns:

Note: both -amment and -emment are pronounced the same: ah-mahn.

Some common adverbs are standalone words not derived from adjectives:

Types

Manner

Describe how something is done. Often formed with -ment:

Time

Describe when or how often something happens:

Place

Describe where something happens:

Quantity and Degree

Modify the intensity of a verb, adjective, or adverb:

Note: très and beaucoup are not interchangeable. Il travaille beaucoup but Il est très fatigué. Très never modifies a verb, and beaucoup never modifies an adjective.

Position

In French, adverb placement is more fixed than in English.

With a simple tense, adverbs of manner and quantity come directly after the conjugated verb:

With a compound tense (e.g. the passé composé), short common adverbs go between the auxiliary and the past participle:

Longer adverbs (especially those ending in -ment) typically follow the past participle:

Adverbs of time and place are flexible and can appear at the start or end of a clause:

Adverbs come before the adjectives and adverbs they modify:

Comparison

Adverbs follow the same comparison structure as adjectives, but without any gender agreement.

See also Adjective Comparison.

Comparative

Il court plus vite que moi. - He runs faster than me.

Superlative

The superlative of adverbs always uses le (invariable, regardless of subject gender):

C’est elle qui parle le plus clairement. - She’s the one who speaks the most clearly.

Irregular forms

References