The most common French adverbs are: bien (well), très bien, very well, mal (poorly), un peu (a little, a little bit), vite (quickly), lentement (slowly), souvent (often), maintenant (now) toujours (often), rarement (rarely), aussi (also) and trop (too, too much). This page covers over 100 French adverbs with detailed explanations.
French adverbs
What is an adverb?
Adverbs are words that words which describe how the action of a verb is carried out. They offer information pertaining to who, what, where, when and how. For example, Je parle bien (I speak well). The word bien offers information about how I speak. This page will cover there kinds of French adverbs in depth: adverbs of manner, time and place.
Example sentences using French adverbs
Before we get into our detailed explanations, let’s a quick look at the most commonly used adverbs.
1. Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner offer details about the verbs mentioned in a sentence. For example, Elle parle vite (She speaks quickly) or Ils donnent généreusement (They give generously). Many of these adverbs are formed by adding -ment to the feminine form of adjective and correspond to -ly in English.
| MASCULINE ADJECTIVE | FEMININE ADJECTIVE | FRENCH ADVERB | ENGLISH |
| amer | amère | amèrement | bitterly |
| bref | brève | brièvement | briefly |
| cher | chère | chèrement | dearly, at a price |
| curieux | curieusement | curieusement | strangly, oddly |
| doux | douce | doucement | |
| dur | dure | durement | strongly, severely |
| fier | fière | fièrement | proudly |
| fin | fine | finement | finely, thinly |
| fort | forte | fortement | very much, a lot |
| fou | folle | follement | completely, madly |
| heureux | heureuse | heureusement | fortunately |
| mou | molle | mollement | gently, half-heartedly |
| naïf | naïve | naïvement | naively, innocently |
| net | nette | nettement | clearly |
| nul | nulle | nullement | in no way, by no means, not at all |
| sain | saine | sainement | healthily, well, properly |
| sec | sèche | sèchement | curtly, coldly |
| seul | seule | seulement | only |
| sûr | sûre | sûrement | most likely, very probably |
| tel | telle | tellement | so, so much |
| vain | vaine | vainement | in vain, to no avail |
| vif | vive | vivement | lively |
| égal | égale | également | equally |
When a adjective ends in a vowel in the masculine form the adverb is formed simply by adding –ment.
| MASCULINE ADJECTIVE | FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| absolu | absolument | absolutely, completely |
| ample | amplement | largely, abundantly |
| avare | avarement | miserly |
| brave | bravement | bravely, courageously |
| calme | calmement | calmly |
| carré | carrément | straight, squarely |
| difficile | difficilement | with difficulty |
| drôle | drôlement | amusingly, strangely, extremely, very |
| facile | facilement | easily, with ease |
| ferme | fermement | firmly, solidly, steadfastly |
| forcé | forcément | necessarily, surely, certainly, inevitably |
| gai | gaiment | happily, joyfully |
| honnête | honnêtement | honestly |
| goulû | goulûment | greedily, voraciously |
| grave | gravement | seriously, critically |
| joli | joliment | prettily, nicely |
| juste | justement | exactly, precisely, justly, rightly |
| largement | largement | to a great extent |
| libre | librement | freely |
| lâche | lâchement | in a cowardly way |
| noble | noblement | nobly |
| poli | poliment | politely |
| quasi | quasiment | nearly, almost, practically |
| rare | rarement | rarely |
| rude | rudement | harshly, roughly |
| sincère | sincèrement | sincerely, genuinely, honestly |
| sobre | sobrement | in moderation, modestly |
| tiède | tièdement | half-heartedly, unenthusiastically, tepidly |
| utile | utilement | usefully, helpfully |
| vague | vaguement | indistinctly, vaguely |
| vrai | vraiment | truly, actually, really |
When a masculine adjective ends in -ant or -ent, -ant gets replaced by -amment and -ent gets replaced by -emment.
| MASCULINE ADJECTIVE | ADVERB | ENGLISH |
| abondant | abondamment | abundantly, plentifully |
| brillant | brillamment | superbly |
| conscient | consciemment | consciously, knowingly |
| constant | constamment | constantly |
| courant | couramment | flunetly |
| diligent | diligemment | expeditiously |
| dégoûtant | dégoûtamment | disgustingly |
| excellent | excellemment | excellently, very well |
| flagrant | flagramment | obvious, evident, clear |
| fréquent | fréquemment | frequently |
| innocent | innocemment | innocently |
| méchant | méchamment | spitefully, maliciously, badly |
| négligent | négligemment | carelessly |
| patient | patiemment | patiently |
| pesant | pesamment | heavily |
| plaisant | plaisamment | pleasantly |
| prudent | prudemment | carefully |
| précédent | précédemment | previously, earlier |
| puissant | puissamment | powerfully |
| ravissant | ravissamment | delighfuly |
| récent | récemment | recently |
| savant | savamment | wisely |
| suffisant | suffisamment | enough |
| violent | violemment | violently |
| étonnant | étonnamment | amazingly, astonishingly, surprisingly |
Some adverbs are formed by adding –ément ot the end of the adjective.
- aisé -> aisément easily, comfortably
- sacré -> sacrément bloody (slang)
- précis -> précisement exactly
- énorme -> énormement enormously
- privé -> privément privately
- aveugle -> aveuglément blindly
- décidé -> décidément resolutely
There are some very common adverbs which we use all the time that are irregular.
- Elle parle bien. She speaks well.
- Je chante mal. I sing poorly.
- Je me sens mieux. I feel better.
Adverbs of manner placement
Generally speaking, adverbs of manner usually following the verb they modify.
- Je fais du ski fréquemment. I ski often.
- Je travaille assidûment. I work diligently.
- Je réponds intelligemment aux questions de mes étudiants. I answer my students’ questions intelligently.
In the passé comosé short adverbs (e.g. bien, mal) come after the auxiliary verb and long adverbs follow the past participle.
Short adverbs:
- J’ai bien joué la chanson. I played the song well.
- Elle a mal chanté la chanson. She sang the song poorly.
Long adverbs:
- J’ai couru rapidement cet apres-midi. I ran fast this afternoon.
- J’ai appris les adverbes français facilement! I learned the French adverbs easily!
2. Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time are used to expression when actions happen. There are also adverbial expressions of time.
| FRENCH | ENGLISH | FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| à l'heure actuelle | right now, at this time, at the moment, currently | enfin | at last finally |
| actuellement | at present, currently | ensuit | next, following that, and then |
| alors | then | hier | yesterday |
| après | after | jamais | never |
| après-demain | the day after tomorrow | je jour même | the very day, on the very day |
| aujourd'hui | today | l'avant veille | two days before |
| auparavant | previously, in the past | la dernière semaine | the last week (in a sequence of weeks) |
| aussitôt | immediately | la semaine dernière | last week |
| autrefois | previously, in the past | la semaine prochaine | next week |
| avant | before | la semaine suivante | the following week |
| Avant-hier | the day before yesterday | la veille | the day before |
| bientôt | soon | le surlendemain | two days later, two days after |
| chaque jour | every day | longtemps | for a long time |
| d'abord | at first, first of all, firstly | maintenant | now |
| d'habitude | usually | n'importe quand | whenever |
| dans trois jours | in three days | ne + verb + jamais | never |
| dans un an | in one year | parfois | sometimes |
| dans un mois | in one month | précédemment | previously, earlier |
| dans une quinzaine | in two weeks | présentement | at present, currently (N. America only) |
| de bonne heure | early | quelquefois | sometimes |
| de temps en temps | from time to time | rarement | rarely |
| déjà | already | récemment | recently |
| demain | tomorrow | souvent | often |
| dernièrement | recently, lately | tard | late |
| désormais | from now on, from this point forward | tôt | early |
| en ce moment | currently, at this time | toujours | always |
| encore | still, yet, again | tous les jours | everyday |
| encore une fois | again, one more time | tout à l'heure | just now, a bit earlier, in a while |
| un de ces jours | one of these days | tout de suite | right away |
| tout le temps | all the time |
Placement of adverbs of time
The rules for placement of adverbs of time is not set in stone. Sometimes they follow the verb but sometimes they can come at the beginning of a sentence.
- Maintenant je mange du fromage. I’m eating cheese now.
Je mange du fromage maintenant. - Elle habite actuellement au Texas. She lives in Texas now.
Actuellement elle habite au Texas. - Je travaille tout le temps en ce moment. I’m working all the time now.
En ce moment je travaille tout le temps. - Auparavant je nageais tous les jours. I used to swim everyday.
Je nageais tous les jours auparavant.
Example sentences with adverbs of time
The following are example sentences using adverbs of time.
- Je me lève tôt mais tu te lèves tard. I get up early but you get up late.
- Je dîne toujours avant 18h00. I always have dinner before 6.00pm.
- Je nage rarement ces jours-ci. I rarely swim these days.
- J’habite actuellement dans l’ouest des États-Unis. I’m currently living in the western United States.
- Tu devrais faire du sport tous les jours. You should exercise every day.
3. Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place or location describe where an action occurs. For example, Les enfants jouent dehors (The children play outside) or Je vais là-bas (I’m going over there). The following list also includes some adverbial expressions.
| FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| à cet endroit | in this place |
| à côté | next to |
| à deux heures d'ici | two hours from here |
| à deux kilomètres d'ici | two kilometers from here |
| à droite | to/on the right |
| à gauche | to/on the left |
| ailleurs | elsewhere, somewhere else |
| auprès | next to |
| autour | around |
| ça et là | here and there |
| d'ailleurs | besides |
| dedans | inside |
| dehors | outside |
| derrière | behind |
| dessous | under |
| dessus | above, over |
| devant | in front of |
| en bas | down, downstairs |
| en haut | up, upstairs |
| ici | here |
| là | there |
| Là-bas | over there |
| loin | far |
| n’importe où | anywhere |
| nulle part | nowhere |
| nulle part ailleurs | nowhere else |
| partout | everywhere |
| partout ailleurs | everywhere else |
| près | near |
| quelque part | somewhere |
| tout droit | straight ahead |
Example sentences of adverbs of place
The following example sentences contain adverbs of place, which are all underlined.
- Le chien est derrière la maison. The dog is behind the house.
- Va ailleurs! Go somewhere else!
- Le taxi tourne à droite. The taxi is taking a right.
- Continue tout droit. Keep going straight ahead.
- La voiture est devant la maison. The car is in front of the house.
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French grammar | Lessons by David Issokson
