French Adverbs: How to Form -ment Adverbs and Where to Put Them

Getting Started

An adjective describes a noun: une voiture rapide (a fast car). An adverb describes a verb, an adjective or a whole sentence: il conduit rapidement (he drives fast). In English most adverbs end in -ly; in French most end in -ment.

This lesson shows how to build them, the handful of irregular ones, and the part learners get wrong most: where they go in the sentence.

From Punjabi: Punjabi puts the adverb before the verb: ਮੈਂ ਅਕਸਰ ਬਾਹਰ ਖਾਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ, ਉਹ ਹੌਲੀ ਬੋਲਦਾ ਹੈ. Word for word into French that gives ❌ je souvent mange. French wants it after the verb: je mange souvent. And Punjabi has no one ending, since it says ਹੌਲੀ-ਹੌਲੀ, ਆਰਾਮ ਨਾਲ, ਗੰਭੀਰਤਾ ਨਾਲ, so -ment is a new habit to build.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• build an adverb from an adjective (lent → lentement, récent → récemment);
• say bien and mal, not bon and mauvais, after a verb;
• put the adverb after the verb, between the auxiliary and the participle, or after pas;
• speak about your week with adverbs.

1 The basic rule: feminine + -ment

Take the feminine adjective and add -ment.

2 Adjectives ending in a vowel: masculine + -ment

If the masculine adjective ends in -i, -é, -u or -ai, add -ment to the masculine:

• vrai → vraiment (really)
• poli → poliment (politely)
• absolu → absolument (absolutely)
• aisé → aisément (easily)

Exception: gai → gaiement (cheerfully).

3 -ant → -amment, -ent → -emment

Both endings sound the same, “a-man”: évidemment = é-vi-da-man. Je parle couramment le punjabi (I speak Punjabi fluently) is a sentence worth knowing for any CV or interview.

Exception: lent → lentement (it ends in -ent, but the adjective is lent, and it follows rule 1).

4 Irregular adverbs

A few add -ément instead: énorme → énormément, précis → précisément, profond → profondément, intense → intensément.

Adjective or adverb? C’est un bon cours (adjective, describes cours). Il enseigne bien (adverb, describes enseigne). ❌ Il enseigne bon. The same with mieux / meilleur: Ce restaurant est meilleur but On mange mieux ici.

5 Adverbs that don’t end in -ment

Many of the most common adverbs are short, stand-alone words. You already know most of them:

• Frequency: toujours, souvent, parfois, quelquefois, rarement, jamais
• Quantity: beaucoup, peu, trop, assez, très
• Time: déjà, encore, bientôt, tôt, tard, hier, aujourd’hui, demain, maintenant
• Place: ici, là, partout, dehors, loin, près
• Manner: vite, ensemble, exprès

6 Where the adverb goes

In a simple tense: after the verb

The adverb comes right after the conjugated verb, never between the subject and verb as in English:

• Il parle lentement. (He speaks slowly.)
• Je mange souvent au restaurant. (I often eat out.) ❌ Je souvent mange.
• Elle travaille beaucoup. (She works a lot.)

In the passé composé: short adverbs in the middle

Short, very common adverbs go between the auxiliary and the participle:

• J’ai bien dormi. (I slept well.)
• Tu as déjà mangé ? (Have you already eaten?)
• Il a beaucoup travaillé. (He worked a lot.)
• Nous avons trop mangé. (We ate too much.)

This group includes bien, mal, déjà, encore, toujours, souvent, jamais (ne… jamais), beaucoup, peu, trop, assez, vite, vraiment, presque.

Time and place adverbs go after the participle, or at the start of the sentence:

• J’ai travaillé hier. / Hier, j’ai travaillé. ❌ J’ai hier travaillé.
• On s’est vus ici.

Long -ment adverbs usually go after the participle: Il a répondu poliment. A few very common ones can go in the middle: J’ai complètement oublié. J’ai vraiment aimé.

Before an adjective or another adverb

Très, trop, assez, vraiment, si go before the word they modify: C’est vraiment cher. Il parle trop vite.

At the start: comment on the whole sentence

Some adverbs comment on the whole situation and open the sentence, followed by a comma:

• Heureusement, le bus est arrivé. (Fortunately, the bus arrived.)
• Malheureusement, je ne peux pas venir. (Unfortunately, I can’t come.)
• Évidemment, il était en retard. (Obviously, he was late.)

These are excellent linking words for TEF/TCF writing.

With an infinitive: before it

Short adverbs usually go before an infinitive: Il faut bien manger. Je vais vite finir.

7 With ne … pas

In a negative sentence the adverb goes after pas, and in the passé composé it stays before the participle: Je n’ai pas bien compris. Il ne parle pas vite. Tu n’as pas trop mangé. Never ❌ Je n’ai bien pas compris.

With jamais the order is the same: Je ne mange jamais de viande. And ne … pas encore (not yet) keeps encore after pas: Je n’ai pas encore fini.

Common Mistakes

Practice

A. Make the adverb. Write the missing word

B. Place the adverb. Write the missing word

C. Adjective or adverb? Write the missing word

Your Turn: Your Week

A TEF/TCF-style speaking situation: Racontez votre semaine à un collègue. Speak for about a minute. Use at least four adverbs, one -ment adverb that opens a sentence, and one negative with an adverb (je n’ai pas bien…).

Model answer: Hier, j’ai bien dormi, mais je me suis levé très tôt. Je travaille souvent le soir, et je mange rarement au restaurant. Heureusement, mon patron est patient. Récemment, j’ai complètement changé mon horaire. Je n’ai pas encore fini mon projet, mais je parle couramment le punjabi avec mes clients.

What’s Next

• Essential Adjectives and Adverbsthe vocabulary to use these rules on.
• Adjective Agreementthe feminine forms you need for rule 1.
• Comparatives and Superlativesmieux, le mieux, plus vite que.