French Adverb

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2016-10-02

An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Many French adverbs end in -ment, while their English equivalents usually end in -ly.

For example

• Il parle rapidement - He speaks rapidly
• Je me sens parfaitement bien - I feel perfectly well.

Adverbs that end in -ment / -ly are usually adverbs of manner: they describe how something is done. 

But there are many other types of adverbs.

1. Adverbs of frequency (souvent - often, rarement - rarely)
2. Adverbs of place (ici - here, partout - everywhere)
3. Adverbs of quantity (beaucoup - a lot, trop - too much)
4. Adverbs of time (hier - yesterday, maintenant - now)
5. Comparative adverbs (plus - more, moins - less)
6. Interrogative adverbs (quand - when, pourquoi - why)
7. Negative adverbs (ne ... pas - not, ne ... jamais - never)
8. Superlative adverbs (le plus - the most, le moins - the least)