C’est quoi un adverbe? Well, according to my Robert Micro (my all-time favorite dictionary…although not completely sure why), c’est un mot invariable ajoutant une détermination à un verbe (ex : marcher lentement), un adjectif (ex : très agréable), un adverbe (ex : trop rapidement), ou à une phrase entière (ex : évidemment, il ne se presse pas).
In English, we often say that an adverb tells how something is done.
Il se bouge facilement. (He moves easily.)
Il s’est finalement décidé. (He has finally decided.)
In French, many adverbs end in -ment. However, there are some exceptions. The formation rules are as follows:
1. You take the feminine form of the adjective and add -ment.
fort › forte › fortement
doux › douce › doucement
vif › vive › vivement
fou › folle › follement
2. For adjectives that end in -ent and -ant, the suffix is -emment or -amment.
prudent › prudemment
violent › violemment
courant › couramment
suffisant › suffisamment
3. For adjectives that end in -i, -é and -u, the final -e in the feminine form disappears.
vrai › vraiment
absolu › absolument
aisé › aisément
There are also adverb words or adverb word groups like hier, longtemps, tôt, tard, demain, souvent, loin, près, dehors, trop, là-bas, partout, quelque part, quelquefois, jamais, assez, beaucoup, assez, très, vite, par hasard, à peu près, tout à l’heure, au maximum…
Some adjectives can also be used as adverbs in their masculine singular form like bas, fort, cher, froid…
Finally, there are some often-used adverbs that are completely different from their corresponding adjectives:
bon › bien
mauvais › mal
meilleur › mieux
petit › peu
Who can make a sentence with as many adverbs as possible? Please share in a comment.
