8.6.1

Forming an Adverb

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Adding 'ment'

Adverbs describe the action that is being done, for example 'quickly'. To form most adverbs in French all you need to do is add 'ment' to the adjective.

Rule

Rule

All you need to do is add 'ment' to the FEMININE FORM of the adjective.

  • Get the feminine form of the adjective:
    • Actuel → Actuelle
  • Add 'ment' to the end:
    • Actuelle + ment → Actuellement
Some common adverbs

Some common adverbs

  • Actuel → actuelle → actuellement (currently).
  • Certain → certaine → certainement (certainly).
  • Actuel → actuelle → actuellement (currently).
  • Dernier → dernière → dernièrement (lastly).
  • Facile → facile → facilement (easily).
  • Heureux → heureusement → heureusement (happily, fortunately).

Exceptions

Some adverbs are exceptions to the rule of just adding 'ment'.

Adjective ending in 'ent', ant

Adjective ending in 'ent', ant

  • If an adjective ends in 'ent' or 'ant', then the 'nt' is replaced by 'mment' to form an adverb.
    • Fréquent → Fréquemment - Frequently.
    • Apparent → Apparemment - Apparently.
Adjectives ending in 'e'

Adjectives ending in 'e'

  • When and adjective ends in 'e', to form and adverb the 'e' becomes 'é'.
    • Uniforme → Uniformément - uniformly.
    • Immense → Immensément - Immensly.
Adjectives ending in a vowel

Adjectives ending in a vowel

  • For masculine adjectives that end with a vowel, you don't need to take the feminine form - you simply add 'ment:
    • Absolu → absolument (absolutely).
    • Vrai → vraiment (really).
    • Résolu → résolument (resolutely).
Gentil - kind

Gentil - kind

  • 'Gentil' is completely irregular.
    • It becomes 'gentiment' meaning kindly.
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Home & Abroad

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Time

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6

Common Tenses

6.1

Present Tense

6.1.1Regular ER Verbs6.1.2Regular IR Verbs6.1.3Regular RE Verbs6.1.4Reflexive Verbs6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)6.1.14Irregular Present Participles6.1.15Avoir & Etre
6.2

Perfect Tense

6.2.1Avoir (1/2)6.2.2Avoir (2/2)6.2.3Irregular Past Participles (1/2)6.2.4Irregular Past Participles (2/2)6.2.5Être ER Verbs6.2.6Être IR & RE Verbs6.2.7Irregular Être6.2.8Perfect Infinitive
6.3

Imperfect tense

6.3.1Regular ER Verbs6.3.2Regular IR Verbs6.3.3Regular RE Verbs6.3.4Irregular ER Verbs6.3.5Irregular IR Verbs6.3.6Irregular RE Verbs6.3.7Être
6.4

Imperfect vs Perfect

6.4.1Which One to Use?
6.5

Future Tense

6.5.1Regular ER Verbs6.5.2Regular IR Verbs6.5.3Regular RE Verbs6.5.4Immediate future6.5.5Irregulars (1/2)6.5.6Irregulars (2/2)
7

Advanced Tenses

7.1

Conditional Tense

7.1.1Regular ER Verbs7.1.2Regular IR Verbs7.1.3Regular IR Verbs7.1.4Irregulars (1/2)7.1.5Irregulars (2/2)
7.2

Pluperfect Tense

7.2.1Avoir (1/2)7.2.2Avoir (2/2)7.2.3Être ER7.2.4Être IR & RE7.2.5Irregular Être
7.3

Present Subjunctive

7.3.1Regular Verbs (1/2)7.3.2Regular Verbs (2/2)7.3.3Irregulars (1/2)7.3.4Irregulars (2/2)7.3.5Using the Subjunctive7.3.6Imperative
8

Extra Grammar

8.1

The Passive Voice

8.1.1Être (1/6)8.1.2Être (2/6)8.1.3Être (3/6)8.1.4Être (4/6)8.1.5Être (5/6)8.1.6Être (6/6)8.1.7Avoiding the Passive
8.2

Pronouns

8.2.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)8.2.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)8.2.3Reflexive Pronouns8.2.4Indefinite Pronouns8.2.5Emphatic Pronouns8.2.6Relative Pronouns8.2.7Ça, Cela, Celui8.2.8Demonstrative Pronouns8.2.9Possessive Pronouns
8.3

Asking Questions

8.3.1Question Words (1/2)8.3.2Question Words (2/2)
8.4

Nouns

8.4.1The, A8.4.2Some8.4.3Masculine8.4.4Feminine (1/2)8.4.5Feminine (2/2)8.4.6Plurals8.4.7Irregular Plurals
8.5

Prepositions

8.5.1Prepositions (1/3)8.5.2Prepositions (2/3)8.5.3Prepositions (3/3)8.5.4Phrases
8.6

Adverbs

8.6.1Forming an Adverb8.6.2Good, Badly, Fast
8.7

Quantifiers & Intensifiers

8.7.1A Lot, Enough, Very
8.8

Adjectives

8.8.1Agreement (1/3)8.8.2Agreement (2/3)8.8.3Agreement (3/3)8.8.4Position (1/2)8.8.5Position (2/2)8.8.6Comparative8.8.7Superlative8.8.8Good, Better, Best8.8.9Demonstrative8.8.10Indefinite
8.9

Negative

8.9.1Negatives (1/2)8.9.2Negatives (2/2)
8.10

Conjunctions

8.10.1To Make Sentences Longer8.10.2To Add Extra Information
8.11

Miscellaneous

8.11.1Abbreviations

Practice questions on Forming an Adverb

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    'Rapide' means quick in French.<br>How do you say 'quickly' in French?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Which of the following is NOT a correct adverb?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    'Énorme' is an adjective in French meaning 'big'. What is it as an adverb in French?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    'Absolu' is the French adjective for 'absolute'.<br> How do you say 'absolutely' in French?Multiple choice
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Phrases

Good, Badly, Fast