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A2 · Adjectives & Adverbs · Published
French Adverbs
Most French adverbs are built from the feminine form of the adjective plus -ment: lente → lentement, heureuse → heureusement. In the sentence, the adverb comes after the conjugated verb — never between the subject and the verb as in English:
Je mange souvent au restaurant.
Two spelling families need extra care (couramment, évidemment), a few adverbs ignore -ment entirely (bien, mal, vite), and the passé composé adds a second slot to think about. This page covers all of it.
In short
- Formation: feminine adjective + -ment — lent → lente → lentement; -ant/-ent adjectives take -amment/-emment — couramment, évidemment.
- Placement: after the conjugated verb (je mange souvent), never « je souvent mange ».
- Passé composé: short adverbs sit between auxiliary and participle — j’ai bien dormi.
adverbconjugated verb or auxiliaryword the adverb intensifies· hover a highlighted word for its label
The recipe: feminine adjective + -ment
Take the adjective, put it in the feminine, add -ment — the French cousin of English "-ly". If the masculine already ends in a vowel (vrai, absolu, poli), skip the feminine step and attach -ment directly.
| adjective | feminine | adverb |
|---|---|---|
| lent | lente | lentement |
| heureux | heureuse | heureusement |
| doux | douce | doucement |
| vrai | — (ends in a vowel) | vraiment |
| absolu | — (ends in a vowel) | absolument |
She drives slowly in the snow.
— lentement = lente + -ment, built on the feminine of lent.
Luckily, she found her wallet.
— Heureusement = heureuse + -ment; commenting on the whole sentence, it opens it.
Are you absolutely sure about this?
— Vowel-final absolu skips the feminine step; absolument goes right before the adjective sûr it intensifies.
-ant and -ent adjectives: -amment and -emment
Adjectives ending in -ant swap that ending for -amment, and adjectives in -ent swap it for -emment: courant → couramment, évident → évidemment, récent → récemment. The trap is pronunciation: both endings sound identical, [amɑ̃] — évidemment is spelled with an e but rhymes exactly with couramment. One classic exception: lent keeps the regular recipe (lente → lentement), not « lemment ».
She speaks three languages fluently.
— couramment: courant drops -ant and takes -amment.
Obviously, he’s late again.
— Évidemment: évident → -emment — written with e, pronounced like -amment.
The irregulars worth memorizing
A few everyday adverbs never went through the -ment machine, or went through it crooked.
| adverb | meaning | note |
|---|---|---|
| bien | well | not « bonnement » — see below |
| mal | badly | adverb partner of mauvais — not « mauvaisement » |
| mieux | better | see bon vs bien |
| vite | fast | no -ment at all |
| gentiment | kindly | from gentil, not « gentillement » |
Where the adverb goes
English parks adverbs between the subject and the verb: "I often eat out." French never does — the adverb follows the conjugated verb.
One honest warning while we are here: French adjectives do not moonlight as adverbs the way English "drive slow" does — you cannot say « elle chante joli ». A few fixed pairings are exceptions worth learning as chunks: parler fort / parler bas, plus set phrases like coûter cher and sentir bon. (Where adjectives themselves sit is a separate topic: adjective placement.)
- After the conjugated verb: je mange souvent au restaurant — never « je souvent mange ».
- Before an adjective or another adverb it intensifies: très fatigué, trop vite.
- Sentence-initial for comments on the whole sentence: Heureusement, … / Malheureusement, …
I often go to the market on Saturdays.
— souvent follows the conjugated verb vais — the slot English puts before the verb.
Placement in the passé composé
Compound tenses like the passé composé open a slot inside the verb. A handful of short, high-frequency adverbs — bien, mal, déjà, encore, souvent, trop, beaucoup, vite — sit in that slot, between the auxiliary and the participle. Longer -ment adverbs usually follow the participle instead, or move to the front of the sentence as a comment. That second rule is a strong tendency rather than a law — you will meet « il a rapidement compris » — but the pattern below always sounds right.
I slept well last night.
— Short bien slips between the auxiliary ai and the participle.
He drove carefully in the rain.
— Longer prudemment follows the participle conduit.
Have you already finished your homework?
— déjà belongs to the short list — between auxiliary and participle.
Common mistakes
✗Je souvent mange au restaurant.
✓Je mange souvent au restaurant.
French never puts the adverb between subject and verb; it follows the conjugated verb.
✗Il marche très lentment.
✓Il marche très lentement.
-ment attaches to the feminine form of the adjective: lent → lente → lentement.
✗Elle parle courantement anglais.
✓Elle parle couramment anglais.
Adjectives in -ant swap the whole ending for -amment: courant → couramment.
✗J’ai dormi bien cette nuit.
✓J’ai bien dormi cette nuit.
Short adverbs like bien go between the auxiliary and the participle in the passé composé.
Check yourself
1 / 4___, il a retrouvé ses clés. (heureux)
2 / 4Il parle ___ trois langues. (courant)
3 / 4Nous ___ au cinéma le week-end.
4 / 4Tu as ___ ce matin ?
Frequently asked questions
How do you form adverbs in French?
Take the feminine form of the adjective and add -ment: lente → lentement, heureuse → heureusement. If the masculine ends in a vowel, add -ment directly (vrai → vraiment), and adjectives in -ant/-ent become -amment/-emment (courant → couramment, évident → évidemment).
Where do adverbs go in a French sentence?
After the conjugated verb: je mange souvent, elle conduit lentement — never between the subject and the verb. In the passé composé, short adverbs like bien, déjà, and trop go between the auxiliary and the participle: j’ai bien dormi.
Why is évidemment spelled -emment but pronounced with an "a"?
Because the spelling follows the adjective (évident → -emment) while the pronunciation merged: -emment and -amment are both pronounced [amɑ̃]. So évidemment and couramment rhyme exactly, whatever the letters say.
Can you use an adjective as an adverb in French?
Normally no — French needs a real adverb where casual English uses an adjective ("drive slow" → conduire lentement). A few fixed combinations are exceptions: parler fort, parler bas, coûter cher, sentir bon.
Memory tip
When English wants a slot between subject and verb, French tucks the adverb in right after the verb instead: "I often eat out" → je mange souvent au restaurant. Keep the subject and its verb glued together, always.
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