In the following text we are going to present you the classification of adverbs in French. Notably adverbs are very important in grammar, because they are used to make sense of sentences in terms of time, space, and other specifications or actions.
Adverbs are considered invariable words that have the ability to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Among the main rules of the use of adverbs in French are the following:
- Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs are always placed in front
- Adverbs that modify verbs are placed after the verb
- Adverbs used to modify an entire sentence are always placed either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence
List of adverbs in French
Target times
- Hier: Yesterday
- Aujourd'hui: Today
- Demain: Tomorrow
- Examples of objective time adverbs
- Today I'm going to school: Aujourd'hui je vais à l'école
- Tomorrow I'm going to my father's house: Demain j'irai chez mon père
- Yesterday I went to see a movie at the cinema: Hier je suis allé voir un film au cinéma
Subjective times
- Autrefois: Yesteryear
- Avant: Before
- Récemment: Recently
- Déjà: Already
- Maintenant: Now
- Aussitôt Tout de suite: Right away
- Bientôt: Soon
- Après Ensuite: After
- Puis: Then
Examples of adverbs in French
Subjective times
- Before I liked to go to church now I don't go: Avant d'aimer aller à l'église maintenant je ne vais pas
- I recently graduated as a lawyer: J'ai récemment obtainu mon diplôme d'avocat
- Now is the time for change: Maintenant, il est temps de changer
- I'll be back soon: Je reviens tout de suite
- Soon we will go on a trip to France: Bientôt nous irons en voyage en France
- First you have to take two semesters and then finish your degree: Vous devez d'abord prendre deux semesters pour terminer votre carrière
Time adverbs
- Tard: Afternoon
- Tôt: Early
- En même temps: At the same time
- D'abord: First
- Enfin: Finally
- Alors: So
Examples
- First I have to finish my homework to go play: Je dois d'abord finir mes devoirs pour aller jouer:
- Finally I can find the secret of success: Enfin, je peux trouver le secret du succès
- I get up early to go to work: Je me lève tôt pour aller travailler
Adverbs of absolute frequency
- Jamais: never
- Rarement: Rarely
- Parfois: Sometimes
- Quelquefois: Sometimes
- Souvent: Often
- Fréquemment: Frequently
- Toujours: Always
Examples
- It's always good to get up early to go to work: Il est toujours bon de se lever tôt pour aller travailler
- It's never too late to start: Il n'est jamais trop tard pour commencer
- He rarely goes to see his mother: Il va rarement voir sa mère
- Sometimes it is better to say no: Parfois, il vaut mieux dire non
Frequency adverbs
- Une fois: Once
- Deux fois: Twice
- Trois fois: Three times
- Quotidiennement: Daily
- Chaque semaine: Weekly
- Monthly: Monthly
- Annuellement: Annually
Examples
- I have to go to school daily: Chaque jour je dois aller à l'école
- I have to pay the energy bill monthly: Je dois payer la facture énergétique mensuellement
Local adverbs
- Ici: Here
- Là Là-bas: There
- Ailleurs: Elsewhere
- Au-delà: Beyond
- Partout: Everywhere
- Nulle part: Nowhere
- Quelque part: Somewhere
- Devant: Forward
- Derrière: Behind
- Dessus: Above
- Dessous: Below
- In haut: Up
- In bas: Down
- Dedans: Inside
- Dehors: Out
- Près: Close
- À côté: Next door
- Loin: Far
- En face: In front
Examples
- Here we can find many job benefits: Ici, nous pouvons trouver de nombreux avantages du travail
- The table is in front of the chair: La table est devant la chaise
- The box is on top of the cabinet: La boîte est sur le dessus de l'armoire
- The cat is under the bed: Le chat est sous le lit
- The shoes are inside the box: Les chaussures sont à l'intérieur de la boîte
- I am next to my mother: Je suis à côté de ma mère
Adverbs of manner
- Well well
- Bad bad
- Ainsi: Like this
- Aussi: Also
- Surtout: Above all
- Facilement: Easily
- Doucement: Gently
- Gentiment: Kindly
- Fort: Strongly
- Violemment: Violently
- Adequatement: Adequately
- Incorrectly: Incorrectly
- Vite: Fast
- Rapidement: Quickly
- Lentement: Slowly
- Tranquillement: Quietly
Examples
- She is always like this: Elle est toujours comme ça
- He did badly this semester: Il n'a pas aimé ce semester
- Easily reached the goal: Il a facilement atteint l'objectif
- He is very fast doing his jobs: Il fait très vite son travail
Adverbs of quantity
- Beaucoup: A lot
- Peu: Little
- Très: Very
- Trop: Too much
- Assez: Quite a bit
- Autant: Both
- Plus: More
- Moins: Less
- Environ: Approximately
- Presque: Almost
- Seulement: Only, only
- Tellement: So
Examples
- I have a lot of money: J'ai beaucoup d'argent
- There is little work: Il ya peu de travail:
- There is plenty of gasoline at the station: Il ya assez de gaz dans la station
- He is bigger than his brother: Il est plus grand que son frère
- There is almost always medicine in the pharmacy: Il ya presque toujours des medicaments dans la pharmacie
- It is not as beautiful as it seems: Ce n'est pas aussi beau qu'il y paraît
Interrogative adverbs
- Où? : Where
- Comment? : How
- Pourquoi? : Because
- Combien? : How many
- Quand? : When
Examples
Where are you? : Où es-tu?
How did it go? : Comment ça s'est passé?
When are you coming? : When are you coming?
