Lesson 1 - Grammar 4 - Adverbs (Adverbes)
Examples |
---|
Non, deux allers seulement. |
C'est exactement ce qu'il me faut. |
Vous me l'apporterez à signer immédiatement. |
Mais certainement. |
C'est vraiment une charmante maison. |
Malheureusement, il part pour l'étranger. |
Most adjectives may have, added to their feminine form or to a special stem, the invariable suffix -ment often corresponding to English -ly.
Adjectif | English | Adverbe | English |
---|---|---|---|
nécessaire | necessary | nécessaire | necessarily |
facile | easy | facilement | easily |
fausse | false | faussement | falsely |
douce | soft | doucement | softly |
libre | free | librement | freely |
parfaite | perfect | parfaitement | perfectly |
froide | cold | froidement | coldly |
deuxième | second | deuxièmement | secondly |
récente | recent | récemment | recently |
The meanings of these adverbs in -ment do not always correspond to those of the adjectives:
Adjectif | English | Adverbe | English |
---|---|---|---|
bonne | good | (tout) bonnement | simply |
autre | other | autrement | otherwise |
heureuse | happy | heureusement | fortunately |
longue | long | longuement | at length |
prochaine | next | prochainement | soon |
seule | alone | seulement | only |
dernière | last | dernièrement | recently |
joli | pretty, nice | joliment | very |
sûre | sure | sûrement | definitely |
actuelle | present | actuellement | now |
Adverbs occur in one of three places in a French utterance whether the sentence is affirmative, negative or interrogative:
Position | French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|---|
Initially: | Généralement, il arrive à l'heure. | Generally, he arrives on time. |
Post verbally: | Il
arrive généralement à l'heure. Il a certainement téléphoné. |
He arrives generally on
time. He has certainly telephoned. |
Finally: | Il arrive à l'heure, généralement. | He arrives on time, generally. |
Although the possibilities parallel English, the favorite position in French is after the first verb. Although adverbs occur in three positions, not every adverb may occur in all three positions. In compound tenses, adverbs in -ment are often placed between the auxiliary and the verb:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
J'ai complètement oublié de le faire. | I completely forgot to do it. |
Nous avons justement fini. | As a matter of fact, we’ve finished. |
Some adverbs will normally be at the end of the sentence:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Il a parlé lentement. | He spoke slowly. |