Adverbs and adverbial phrases

1 Definitions

An adverb is a word like curieusement that can modify most parts of speech apart from a noun . It is always invariable , i.e. it does not change its form according to gender or number :

An adverbial phrase is a group of words such as tout d'un coup or de temps en temps acting as an adverb :

Tout d'un coup il s'est précipité vers la porte

Suddenly he hurried to the door

2 Function of adverbs and adverbial phrases

Adverbs and adverbial phrases carry out a broad range of functions.

2.1 Expressing manner

Il la regarda fixement

He stared at her

Most adverbs of manner and longtemps, tard, tôt, souvent, loin, près and vite can take comparative and superlative forms (e.g. plus simplement, le plus souvent). For more information on this form, see Unit 42).

2.2 Expressing degree

J'ai assez mangé

I've had enough to eat

2.3 Expressing time

Il se lève toujours tôt

He always gets up early

2.4 Expressing place

Ses livres se vendent partout

His / her books are sold everywhere

2.5 Expressing quantity

Il en reste beaucoup

There are a lot of them left

2.6 Affirming and negating

Oui, je le connais

Yes I know him

2.7 Questions and exclamations

Ils en ont pris combien?

How many of them did they take?

Comme elle est grande!

How tall she is!

2.8 Linking sentences

Ils l'ont mal traité; pourtant, il ne leur en veut pas.

They treated him badly; nevertheless, he doesn't hold it against them

3 Adverbs formed using –ment

3.1 Regular formations

Most commonly adverbs are formed by adding –ment to the feminine form of the adjective :

Note that sometimes the –e preceding the final –ment takes an acute accent accent:

This is also true of many adverbs formed from adjectives which always take a final -e:

But it is not true of adverbs formed from adjectives ending in -able , hence adverbs such as probablement, véritablement, valablement and so on.

3.2 Irregular formations

Some adverbs are formed by adding –ment to the masculine form of the adjective . This is usually the case for adverbs formed from adjectives ending in a single vowel :

Adverbs formed from adjectives ending in –ant or –ent generally end in -amment and -emment (pronounced like –amment) respectively:

Exceptions to these irregular formations include gaiement, lentement and gentiment. There are also the wholly irregular formations bien (well) from bon (good) and mal (badly) from mauvais (bad).

4 Adjectives used as adverbs

Many adjectives are used as adverbs without the addition of –ment. These include bas, bon, chaud, cher, clair, dur, faux, fort, frais, haut, juste, lourd, mauvais, net

Avec mes nouvelles lunettes je vois clair maintenant

With my new glasses I can see clearly now

Il a refusé tout net de l’aider

He refused point blank to help him / her

5 Other ways of forming adverbial expressions

The adverbial -ly form is far more commonly used in English than is the -ment form in French. Where the -ment option is not available or desired, the following structures can often be used:

5.1 Avec + noun

Il la regarda avec amour / tristesse

He looked at her lovingly / sadly

5.2 De façon / d'une manière + adjective

Il faut qu'on agissent de façon / d'une manière décisive

We must act decisively

6 Position of adverbs

The rules relating to the position of adverbs in French are fairly detailed and flexible, and are best learned through immersion in the language. Their main points are as follows:

6.1 Modifying an adjective, preposition or other adverb

Here the adverb is placed before the word being modified:

Le repas était vraiment bon

The meal was really good

Ce résultat va bien au-delà des ses espérances

This result is well beyond what he / she was hoping for

Les enfants se sont conduits remarquablement bien

The children behaved remarkably well

6.2 Modifying a verb

With a simple tense the adverb usually follows the verb :

Il travaille souvent à la maison

He often works at home

With a compound tense , the adverb usually follows the auxiliary :

Il a souvent travaillé à la maison

He often worked at home

However, when adverbs of place are used with a compound tense , the adverb usually follows the past participle :

Ils ont dîné dehors

They ate out

6.3 Modifying a sentence

Here the adverb can generally be placed in various positions in its clause :

Malheureusement il n'a pas pu venir

Il n'a pas pu venir malheureusement

Il n'a malheureusement pas pu venir

Unfortunately he was unable to come

7 Miscellaneous translation problems

7.1 Vite and rapide

Note that the adverb quickly is translated by vite or rapidement. The word *vitement does not exist. The French word for the adjective quick is rapide and never vite.

They worked quickly

Ils ont travaillé vite / rapidement

I'm going to give him a quick phone call

Je vais lui passer un coup de téléphone rapide

7.2 Hopefully

Note the expression avec un peu de chance when hopefully is used to modify a sentence (this use of hopefully is disliked by some English users):

Hopefully he'll come early

Avec un peu de chance, il viendra en avance

This compares with the expression avec optimisme when hopefully is used to modify a verb :

He looked at her hopefully

Il la regarda avec optimisme

7.3 Surely

This is most commonly translated by n'est-ce pas, j'imagine or (for greater emphasis) quand-même rather than by sûrement:

Surely you took down his address?

Tu as noté son adresse, j'imagine / n'est-ce pas?

You're surely not going to watch television on a nice day like this?

Tu ne vas quand même pas rester devant la télé par un temps pareil?

7.4 Surprisingly

The adverb étonnamment can be used when modifying an adjective (along with étrangement and incroyablement), but alternatives are necessary in the following contexts:

There were surprisingly few people at the party

C'est étonnant qu'il y avait si peu de gens à la soirée

Surprisingly, he did not know of the incident

Chose étonnante, il n'était pas au courant de l'incident