French adverbs


French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they modify.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ; similarly, heureux → heureusement.
As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:
Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions,
not even using the suffix -ment:
And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:
The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs.
An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:
An adverb that modifies an infinitive generally comes after the infinitive:
But negative adverbs, such as pas, plus, and jamais, come before the infinitive:
An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:
Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs: