French Grammar Guide for non-francophones

ADVERBS (e.g.: très, rapidement, bien, quand, comment, mal)

On this page: Description, Questions, Exercises

Description

An Overview of French Adverbs

The category of words known as "adverbs" includes a wide range of words. You need to be familiar with the most common adverbs. You also need to be aware that adverbs are "invariable". That is, even though they modify other words (verbs and adjectives), they don't change their shape according to gender and number.

Common adverbs

The following table presents common adverbs with which you should be familiar:

English French Notes
"often" souvent  
"never" jamais -used in conjunction with ne
"sometimes" parfois  
"quickly" vite -the form vitement does not exist
"slowly" lentement  
"well" bien -used with actions, not things
"poorly" mal -used with actions, not things
"enough" assez -followed by de, not des
"far" loin  
"near" proche  
"next" ensuite -followed by a comma at the beginning of a sentence
"maybe" peut-être -make sure this is written with a circumflex accent
"soon" bientôt  
"early" tôt  
"late" tard  
 "now" maintenant  
"always" toujours  
"almost" presque -changes to presqu' before vowels
"many" beaucoup -followed by de, not des.
"finally" enfin -followed by a comma at the beginning of a sentence
"few" peu -followed by de, not des.
"less" moins  
"more" plus -don't use before bon; use meilleur/mieux instead.
"too much/many" trop -followed by de, not des.
"very" très  
"better" mieux -don't use mieux before nouns (use meilleur)

 

  • the word actuellement means "currently" or "presently". If you mean "actually", write en fait or à vrai dire.
  • beaucoup, trop, peu and assez are followed by de, not by des, e.g.: J'ai beaucoup de livres.
  • nouns following beaucoup, trop, peu and assez should end in "-s", e.g.: J'ai trop de problèmes.
  • adverbs that precede adjectives don't change according to number and gender, e.g.: ils sont fort intéressants; elle est tout aussi bonne.

 

Questions

Questions about French Adverbs

Q: Why is it vraiment beaucoup and NOT très beaucoup?

The words très and vraiment both mean "really", but they cannot always be used interchangeably. For example, while both can be used to modify adjectives (e.g.: très bon, vraiment bon) and many adverbs (e.g.: très loin, vraiment loin, très tard, vraiment tard), only vraiment is used to modify quantitative words like beaucoup and trop. Another context where only vraiment is possible is when a noun follows, e.g: C'est vraiment un bon film (and NOT c'est très un bon film, though one does write c'est un très bon film). On the other hand, vraiment cannot be used before un or une, e.g.: un vraiment bon film.

Q: Why is it beaucoup de personnes and NOT beaucoup des personnes?

Words that indicate a quantity are usually followed by de (or d'), not by des.

Q: Why is it Elle court vite and NOT Elle court vitement?

To say "quickly" in French, simply write vite (or rapidement). The word vitement, while logical, is not used in French.

Q: Why is it j'ai peu de problèmes and NOT j'ai peu problèmes?

Adverbs that indicate a quantity are followed by de.

Q: Why is it j'en ai assez and NOT j'ai assez?

When nothing follows assez, you need to use en before it (en replaces the combination "de + noun"). This same pattern is found with other adverbs of quantity, e.g.: beaucoup, peu, etc.

Q: Why is it une mauvaise chose and NOT une mal chose?

The adverb mal describes actions, not things.

Q: Why is it Ils sont partis ensemble and NOT Ils sont partis ensembles?

The adverb ensemble is invariable. Only the noun can be written with "-s", par ex.: Les ensembles.

Exercises

Give the French equivalent of the following:

after .
often .
quickly .
soon .
now .
maybe .
enough .
however .
actually .
too many .
sometimes .
slowly .
almost .
near .
far .
very .
few .
somewhere .
fortunately .
inspite of .
unfortunately .
therefore .
so .
always .
none .
never .
early .
late .
everywhere .
still .
even .
nowhere .
finally .
before .
during .
really .

Translate the following:

I have too many books > .
I want to leave, but I am too busy > .
Actually, we arrive tomorrow > .
We go there often > .

Tags: Prepositions verbs time cities
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