Adverbs and their placement D’Accord 1 Leçon 7B.1

Point de départ Adverbs describe how, when, and where actions take place. They modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. You’ve already learned some adverbs such as bien, déjà, surtout, and très. To form an adverb from an adjective that ends in a consonant, take the feminine singular form and add -ment. This ending is equivalent to the English -ly.

If the masculine singular form of an adjective ends in a vowel, just add -ment to the end.

To form an adverb from an adjective that ends in -ant or -ent in the masculine singular, replace the ending with -amment or -emment, respectively. Both endings are pronounced identically, like femme.

Some adverbs are irregular.

Although the adverb rapidement can be formed from the adjective rapide, you can also use the adverb vite to say fast/quickly. Note that when you use vite with a verb in the passé composé when meaning fast, the adverb needs to be placed after the past participle.

Types of adverbs: Frequency Manner Place Quantity Time Order of events

Adverbs of Frequency: how often something happens Encoreagain Encore une foisOne more time Jamaisnever Parfois/Quelquefoissometimes Rarement*rarely Souventoften Toujoursalways Constammentconstantly De temps en tempsfrom time to time

Adverbs of Manner: Explain how something happens Bienwell Malpoorly Mieuxbetter Pireworse Vitequickly Lentement*slowly Rapidement*quickly Courammentfluently

Adverbs of Place: Where something happens Devantin front of Derrièrebehind Icihere Làthere Loinfar Prèsnear

Adverbs of Quantity: explain how many or how much Beaucoup de a lot of Assez de enough of Un peu de a little bit of Davantagemore Seulement* only Trèsvery

Adverbs of Time: Explain when something happens Déjàalready Demaintomorrow Hieryesterday Aujourd’huitoday Il y aago Aprèsafter

Placement: Short adverbs usually follow the conjugated verb. Ils vont souvent au cinema. Nous ne mangeons pas bien. Il a déjà lu ce livre. Long adverbs are usually placed at the beginning or end of the sentence. Généralement, nous mangeons avant 8h du soir. Il est tombé, malheureusement. Elle parle français couramment.

Placement: Adverbs of Frequency usually follow the conjugated verb. Ils vont souvent au cinema. Je fais toujours mes devoirs. Parfois and Quelquefois are exceptions. They go at the front! Parfois, Luc ne fait pas ses devoirs. Adverbs of time, referring to specific days, can go either at the beginning or end of the sentence. Aujord’hui, je vais acheter une voiture. Je danse aujourd’hui. Il va arriver demain. Demain, je vais manger un sandwich pour le déjeuner. Adverbs of place are usually found after the direct object. Elle a mis son sac à dos là. J’ai trouvé mes clés ici. Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed in front of the adjective/adverb they modify. Je suis très heureuse. Renée nage assez souvent l’été.

Adverbs to narrate a story: Some adverbs can be used to describe the order in which things happen in a story. These not only “dress up” your writing/speaking are very useful for explaining the order in which things happen in a narration. D’abord, je suis allée à la biliothèque. Puis, j’ai trouvé un bon livre. Ensuite, je suis rentrée chez moi. Finalement, j’ai lu le livre. À notez: You cannot use “Premier” to begin your story! You can use the adverb “premièrement” but don’t you think D’ABORD is a little easier?