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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