Adverb Formation in FrenchA2

The adverb specifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. With a verb, it indicates manner, time, place, frequency or degree, as in She speaks softly or He often comes. With an adjective, it strengthens or attenuates the quality, as in very tall or quite cold. With another adverb, it adds yet another specification, as in really very quickly. Without an adverb, the sentence remains correct, but the information is less nuanced.

Functions of the adverb in the sentence

Usage	Explanation
Modification of the verb	An adverb serves to specify the action when it completes a verb.
Modification of the adjective	An adverb serves to strengthen or qualify an adjective when it accompanies it.
Modification of another adverb	An adverb serves to intensify another adverb when it changes its degree.

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The adverb is often formed from the feminine form of the adjective. The adjective is put in the feminine, then the adverbial ending is added. Thus, serious becomes serious then seriously, and happy becomes happy then happily. The feminine form therefore serves as the base when the masculine and feminine are not formed in the same way. This logic explains why the spelling of the adverb often follows that of the feminine rather than that of the masculine.

Feminine base before the adverbial ending

Idea
The adverb is often formed from the feminine form of the adjective.
If the masculine adjective changes in the feminine, the feminine form is used before adding the ending.
If the feminine adjective is already simple, the usual ending is added directly to this base.

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Regular formation adds -ment to the chosen base. When the adjective already ends in a vowel, the transition is simple: rapid gives rapidly, easy gives easily, political gives politically. Most often, the base is the feminine form, but for adjectives ending in -e in the masculine, the form remains identical before -ment. This results in adverbs that are read and written without any additional change, such as clearly or softly.

Regular formation with the ending ment

Idea
When the feminine adjective ends in a vowel, ment is added without changing the base.
When the base ends in e, the adverbial form often retains the simple final sound.
This formation is common with common adjectives in everyday language.

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Certain adjectives ending in -ant give adverbs ending in -amment. The adjective base is used and the ending is replaced with -amment. Thus, constant gives constantly and brilliant gives brilliantly. The form in -amment retains the idea of manner or degree, and it is common in everyday language. The spelling with am is fixed in these words and does not change according to gender or number.

Adverbs derived from adjectives ending in ant

Idea
Adjectives ending in ant often give an adverb ending in amment.
The adverbial form often retains the same idea of manner as the original adjective.
When the adjective expresses an attitude or an action, the adverb in amment remains very natural.

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Certain adjectives ending in -ent give adverbs ending in -emment. One writes evident then evidently, recent then recently. The pronunciation remains very close to that of adverbs ending in -amment, but the spelling follows the ending of the adjective from which it is formed. The group -emment occurs with adjectives whose base contains -ent, and it is used like other adverbs of manner or degree.

Pronunciation of adverbs ending in emment

Word	Notation	Description	Example
évidemment	e vi da mɑ̃	In these adverbs, the emment group is pronounced like amment.	Il a évidemment accepté l'invitation.He obviously accepted the invitation.
différemment	di fe ʁɑ̃ mɑ̃	The written sequence emment is pronounced with a nasal sound close to amment.	Elle a agi différemment cette fois ci.She acted differently this time.
récemment	ʁe sa mɑ̃	In this type of word, the spelling changes but the sound remains close to that of amment.	Nous nous sommes vus récemment.We saw each other recently.

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After certain adjectives ending in -é, an adverb ending in -ément is formed. This form can be seen in precise and precisely, or in common and commonly when the spelling requires it according to the usage of the word. Some adjectives also offer two competing forms depending on the register or the word itself, but the established form remains the most frequent in standard usage. The adverb is then built on the adjective base without changing its function.

Formation with the ending ément

Idea
Certain adjectives ending in é give an adverb ending in ément.
This form often appears when the meaning remains very close to that of the original adjective.
In a few cases, another form may exist depending on the register or usage.

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A few very common adverbs do not follow formation in -ment. Well is used to express a correct or satisfactory manner, badly indicates the opposite, and better is the irregular comparative of well. Other words retain a particular spelling, such as quickly, early, late or a lot. Some adverbs ending in -ment also require a spelling change in the base, such as shifting the accent or modifying a consonant, and this form must be memorized for each word.

Common irregular adverbs

Word	Definition
bien	This word serves to express a positive or correct manner.
mal	This word serves to express an incorrect or unfavorable manner.
mieux	This word serves to express a higher degree compared with another form.
vite	This word is used to say that an action happens quickly.
tôt	This word is used to say that an action happens before the usual time.
très	This word serves to strengthen an adjective or an adverb.
peu	This word serves to express a small quantity or a low degree.
déjà	This word is used to say that an action is completed before the expected moment.
toujours	This word is used to say that an action is repeated without interruption.
souvent	This word is used to say that an action occurs regularly.

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The adverb is often placed after the conjugated verb, as in He sings well. With a compound tense, it is generally placed between the auxiliary and the past participle, as in She quickly understood. When the adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it is placed just before that word, as in very calm or really very far away. Certain expressions play the same role as an adverb without being a single word: from time to time, all of a sudden, with care. These adverbial expressions are memorized as fixed groups and are placed in the sentence like adverbs.

Position of the adverb and adverbial phrases

Usage	Explanation
After the verb	The adverb is often placed after the verb when it specifies the manner of the action.
After the auxiliary	With a compound tense, the adverb is often placed near the conjugated verb.
Before the adjective	When it modifies an adjective, the adverb is often placed just before that adjective.
Adverbial phrase	An adverbial phrase is a fixed group of words that plays the role of an adverb.

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