French Adverbs - Formation

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux → heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:

  • If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to the feminine singular form:
    • vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
    • poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")
  • If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the-nt is stripped and -mment is added:
    • constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
    • récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently") (-emment and -amment have the same pronunciation -> /amã/)
  • Some adjectives make other changes:
    • précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
    • gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

  • bon → bien ("good" → "well")
  • mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
  • meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
  • traditionally, pire → pis ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)
  • nowadays commonly, pire → pire ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

  • ainsi ("thus" or "this way")
  • vite ("quickly")

Read more about this topic:  French Adverbs

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