The full guide to over 200 French adverbs
In contrast to adjectives which modify nouns, adverbs can be used to modify verbs, adjectives and even other adverbs.
Examples of French adverbs used to modify verbs
The two diagrams below show examples of French phrases where the adverb modifies the verb:
Remark about the direction of the arrows: These diagrams are dependency trees which show the syntactic structure of a sentence. The direction of the arrows goes from a head word to its dependent word.
When an adverb modifies a word, the adverb is a dependent of that word. Hence the direction of the arrow is from the word being modified to the adverb.
Examples of French adverbs used to modify adjectives
Here is an example where the adverb (“plus”) modifies the adjective (“joli”):
Here is another example of an adverb (“relativement”) used to modify an adjective (“intuitif”):
Examples of French adverbs used to modify other adverbs
Here is an example where the French adverb (“très”) modifies another adverb (“rapidement”):
Here is another example of an adverb (“encore”) used to modify another adverb (“mieux”):
French adverbs which end in -ment
In the same way that many English adverbs are formed by adding the suffix “-ly” to an adjective, many French adverbs are formed by adding the suffix “-ment” to an adjective.
Although the rule is simple, there are two special cases to this pattern of forming adverbs from adjectives. These concern adjectives ending in “-ent” and in “-ant”.
French adverbs formed from adjectives ending in “-ent”
French adverbs which are formed from adjectives ending in “-ent” replace that ending with “-emment”. Here are some examples:
| French adverb | formation |
|---|---|
| évidemment (evidently) | évid |
| récemment (recently) | réc |
| apparemment (apparently) | appar |
| impatiemment (impatiently) | impati |
| différemment (differently) | différ |
| précédemment (before now) | précéd |
| prudemment (carefully) | prud |
| fréquemment (often) | fréqu |
| violemment (violently) | viol |
| pertinemment (pertinently) | pertin |
| décemment (decently) | déc |
| consciemment (consciously) | consci |
An exception to this pattern is the adverb “lentement” (lente + ment).
French adverbs formed from adjectives ending in “-ant”
French adverbs which are formed from adjectives ending in "-ant" replace that ending with “-amment”. Here are some examples:
| French adverb | formation |
|---|---|
| suffisamment (sufficiently) | suffis |
| couramment (fluently or commonly) | cour |
| indépendamment (independently) | indépend |
| abondamment (abundantly) | abond |
| constamment (constantly) | const |
| brillamment (brilliantly) | brill |
| étonnamment (surprisingly ) | étonn |
| bruyamment (noisily) | bruy |
| incessamment (unceasingly) | incess |
French adverbs formed from adjectives which do not end in “-ent” or “-ant”
When forming French adverbs from these adjectives, in most cases it is the feminine form of the adjective which is used.
For some French adverbs, an acute accent is added to the ‘e’ in order to facilitate the pronunciation. For example:
| French adverb | formation |
|---|---|
| précisément (precise) | précise + -ment |
| énormément (enormously) | énorme + -ment |
| profondément (deeply) | profonde + -ment |
| conformément (accordingly) | conforme + -ment |
| intensément (intensely) | intense + -ment |
| communément (commonly) | commune + -ment |
Here is a list of the most common French adverbs which are formed simply by adding the suffix -ment to an adjective.
In most cases the feminine form of the adjective is used. In the table we have sometimes indicated the masculine form of the adjective even in cases when the feminine form is used to create the adverb.
| French adverb | formation |
|---|---|
| éventuellement (possibly) | éventuel + -ment |
| entièrement (entirely) | entier + -ment |
| seulement (only) | seule + -ment |
| actuellement (currently) | actuelle + -ment |
| également (also / equally) | égal + -ment |
| simplement (simply) | simple + -ment |
| vraiment (truly) | vrai + -ment |
| nécessairement (necessarily) | nécessaire + -ment |
| facilement (easily) | facile + -ment |
| probablement (probably) | probable + -ment |
| lentement (slowly) | lente + -ment |
| parfaitement (perfectly) | parfait + -ment |
| absolument (absolutely) | absolu + -ment |
| doucement (softly) | douce + -ment |
| rapidement (speedily) | rapide + -ment |
| exactement (exactly) | exact + -ment |
| complètement (completely) | complet + -ment |
| immédiatement (immediately) | immédiate + -ment |
| clairement (clearly) | clair + -ment |
| rarement (rarely) | rare + -ment |
| malheureusement (unfortunately) | malheureux + -ment |
| particulièrement (particularly) | particulier + -ment |
| totalement (totally) | totale + -ment |
| généralement (generally) | générale + -ment |
| heureusement (luckily) | heureux + -ment |
| autrement (otherwise) | autre + -ment |
| naturellement (naturally) | naturel + -ment |
| strictement (strictly) | stricte + -ment |
| sûrement (surely) | sûre + -ment |
| typiquement (typically) | typique + -ment |
| tellement (so much) | telle + -ment |
| volontairement (intentionally) | volontaire + -ment |
| prochainement (soon) | prochain + -ment |
| relativement (relatively) | relatif + -ment |
| finalement (finally) | finale + -ment |
| uniquement (uniquely) | unique + -ment |
| directement (directly) | direct + -ment |
| extrêmement (extremely) | extrême + -ment |
| partiellement (partially) | partiel + -ment |
| personnellement (personally) | personnel + -ment |
| proprement (properly) | propre + -ment |
| quotidiennement (daily) | quotidien + -ment |
| librement (freely) | libre + -ment |
| décidément (obviously) | décidé + -ment |
| exclusivement (exclusively) | exclusif + -ment |
| traditionnellement (traditionally) | traditionnel + -ment |
| essentiellement (essentially) | essentiel + -ment |
| certainement (certainly) | certaine + -ment |
| soigneusement (carefully) | soigneux + -ment |
| brutalement (brutally) | brutal + -ment |
| légèrement (lightly) | légère + -ment |
| progressivement (progressively) | progressif + -ment |
| fortement (strongly) | fort + -ment |
| effectivement (indeed) | effectif + -ment |
| régulièrement (regularly) | régulier + -ment |
| largement (mostly) | large + -ment |
| principalement (mainly) | principal + -ment |
| spontanément (spontaneously) | spontané + -ment |
| franchement (frankly) | franc + -ment |
| nettement (neatly) | net + -ment |
| efficacement (efficiently) | efficace + -ment |
| vraisemblablement (probably) | vraisemblable + -ment |
| réellement (really) | réel + -ment |
| officiellement (officially) | officiel + -ment |
| sensiblement (sensitively) | sensible + -ment |
| grièvement (seriously) | grief + -ment |
| quasiment (practically, almost) | quasi + -ment |
| respectivement (respectively) | respective + -ment |
| correctement (correctly) | correcte + -ment |
| simultanément (simultaneously) | simultané + -ment |
| individuellement (individually) | individuel + -ment |
| préalablement (beforehand) | préalable + -ment |
| économiquement (economically) | économique + -ment |
| définitivement (definitively) | définitif + -ment |
| forcément (inevitably) | forcé + -ment |
| lourdement (heavily) | lourd + -ment |
| difficilement (difficultly) | difficile + -ment |
| systématiquement (systematically) | systématique + -ment |
| habituellement (usually) | habituelle + -ment |
| normalement (usually) | normal + -ment |
| gratuitement (for free) | gratuit + -ment |
| aisément (easily) | aisé + -ment |
| activement (actively) | actif + -ment |
| majoritairement (mostly) | majoritaire + -ment |
| pleinement (completely) | pleine + -ment |
| potentiellement (potentially) | potentiel + -ment |
| pratiquement (practically) | pratique + -ment |
| longuement (for a long time) | longue + -ment |
| contrairement (contrarily) | contraire + -ment |
| durablement (durably) | durable + -ment |
| gravement (seriously) | grave + -ment |
| justement (precisely) | juste + -ment |
| véritablement (really) | véritable + -ment |
| sérieusement (seriously) | sérieux + -ment |
| spécialement (especially) | spécial + -ment |
| globalement (overall) | global + -ment |
| considérablement (considerably) | considérable + -ment |
| automatiquement (automatically) | automatique + -ment |
| purement (purely) | pure + -ment |
| résolument (resolutely) | résolu + -ment |
| littéralement (literally) | littéral + -ment |
| visiblement (visibly) | visible + -ment |
| annuellement (annually) | annuel + -ment |
| massivement (massively) | massif + -ment |
| théoriquement (theoretically) | théorique + -ment |
| spécifiquement (specifically) | spécifique + -ment |
| politiquement (politically) | politique + -ment |
| logiquement (logically) | logique + -ment |
| obligatoirement (obligatorily) | obligatoire + -ment |
| initialement (initially) | initial + -ment |
| vivement (forcefully) | vif + -ment |
| manifestement (obviously) | manifeste + -ment |
| ouvertement (openly) | ouverte + -ment |
| anciennement (formerly) | ancienne + -ment |
| parallèlement (parallelly) | parallèle + -ment |
| formellement (formally) | formel + -ment |
| successivement (successively) | successive + -ment |
| durement (sternly) | dure + -ment |
| ultérieurement (eventually) | ultérieure + -ment |
| hautement (highly) | haut + -ment |
| conjointement (jointly) | conjoint + -ment |
| explicitement (explicitly) | explicite + -ment |
| localement (locally) | local + -ment |
| financièrement (financially) | financier + -ment |
| publiquement (publicly) | publique + -ment |
| concrètement (concretely) | concrète + -ment |
| grandement (greatly) | grand + -ment |
| fermement (firmly) | ferme + -ment |
| étroitement (narrowly) | étroit + -ment |
| significativement (significantly) | significatif + -ment |
| nouvellement (newly) | nouveau + -ment |
French adverbs which do not end in -ment
There are also many French adverbs which are not produced from adjectives. Here are some examples of these:
- bien : This is a frequently used adverb, for instance in the French greeting: “Vous allez bien?”.
- jamais is a French adverb which means “never”.
- ainsi means “thus”
- bientôt means “soon”
- vite (“quickly”): this is a common French adverb.
- avant is an adverb of time which means “before”.
- peu (“not very”). In French the word “peu” can be used both as a noun and as an adverb.
- désormais (“from now on”): This French adverb is only used in rather formal language.
- loin is an adverb of place which means “far”.
- là is an adverb of place which means “there”. Note the presence of the accent mark which distinguishes it from the French definite article (la).
- beaucoup (“very much”) : This is one of the common French adverbs.
- dehors is an adverb of place which means “outside”.
- mieux (“better”): This is one of the common French adverbs
- assez (“enough” or “somewhat”)
- néanmoins : This French conjunctive adverb which means “nevertheless” is very formal.
- trop is a French adverb of degree which means “too” (as in “too much”).
- maintenant is an adverb of time which means “now”.
- toujours (“always”) : This is another one of the most common French adverbs.
- alors can either be used as an adverb of time (in which case it means “then”), or as a conjunctive adverb (in which case it means “hence” or “so”).
- ici is an adverb of place which means “here”.
- tard is an adverb of time which means “late”.
- ailleurs is an adverb of place which means “elsewhere”.
- déjà (“already”) : This is one of the common French adverbs. Anglophones will recognize it from the expression “déjà vu” which has entered the English language.
- tôt is an adverb of time which means “early”.
- dorénavant (“from now on”): This French adverb is fairly old fashioned and mostly found in literary language.
- encore (“again” or “still”) : This is a very common French adverb.
- environ (“about”) : This adverb is frequently used both in everyday French as well as in formal French.
- cash is an informal/colloquial French adverb which means “bluntly”. It originates from the English word “cash”.
- enfin (“finally”, “at last”)
- presque (“almost”) : This is a common adverb, both in casual as well as in formal French.
- très (“very”) : this common French adverb is often used to modify another adverb, for example in the phrase “il parle très vite”. It is also often used to modify an adjective, as in the phrase: “il est très grand”
- longtemps (“for a long time”) : this is another common French adverb
- demain (“tomorrow”)
- ensemble (“together”) : This is one of the very frequently used French adverbs.
- souvent is an adverb of time which means “often”. This is one of the most common adverbs in the French language.
- derrière is an adverb of place which means “behind”.
- cependant (“however”) : This adverb is only used in formal speech. In everyday conversations, the French adverb “portant” would be used instead.
- lors : This French adverb is typically used to introduce a preposition of the form “lors de ..”.
- surtout : This is an important adverb to know as it is used very often in French. It means “especially”.
- parfois (“sometimes”) : this is a common French adverb, which is frequently used both in casual and in formal language.
- juste This French word can serve either as an adjective or as an adverb. When used as an adverb, it means “only” or “precisely” depending on the context.
- partout (“everywhere”): This is a common French adverb which is used in everyday conversations.
- autrefois is an adverb of time which means “back in the day” or “in the past”.
- autant: This French adverb of degree can mean either “as much” or “so much” depending on the context.
- guère (“barely”): This French adverb is a bit old fashioned.
- auparavant (“beforehand”): This is another French adverb which is only used in formal language. In everyday conversation one would simply use the adverb “avant”.
- davantage (“more”) : This French adverb is used mostly in formal language.
- pourtant (“however”) : This adverb is frequently used in French.
- jadis (“ in times past”) This adverb is mostly encountered when reading French literature. It is an old fashioned adverb which is typically not used in everyday conversations.
- dessus is an adverb of place which means “above”.
- dessous is an adverb of place which means “under”.
- soudain (“suddenly”) : This French adverb of time is mostly used in storytelling and literature.
- toutefois (“however”): This French adverb is not used in everyday casual French, but it is reserved for formal speech.
- volontiers (“gladly”) : This is a French adverb which is mostly used in formal speech.
David is fluent in both French and English.
