Adverbs – formation and placement

Adverbs – formation and placement
The placement of adverbs
If an adverb is modifying a verb, it immediately follows that verb. This is true even where there is an
object pronoun or the sentence is negative.
Nous les préférons vraiment.
Elles ne s’assoient pas confortablement par
terre.
Elle fait rarement la vaisselle.
We truly prefer them.
She isn’t sitting comfortably on the ground.
She rarely does the dishes.
In compound tenses (where there are two verbs, such as in the passé composé), most adverbs
ending in –ment are placed after the past participle, as in:
Elle a fait poliment ses salutations.
However, when you are using a short adverb or a commonly used adverb (most of these won’t end in
-ment), it is placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle, as in:
Elle a bien fait ses salutations.
Here is a list of some of the more common French adverbs that do not end in -ment:
parfois (sometimes)
souvent (often)
toujours (always)
bien (well)
mal (bad)
vite (fast)
aujourd’hui (today)
demain (tomorrow)
hier (yesterday)
maintenant (now)
tôt (early)
tard (late)
déjà (already)
enfin (finally)
actuellement (currently)
bientôt (soon)
ensuite (next, then)
longtemps (a long time)
ici (here)
là (there)
là-bas (over there)
partout (everywhere)
quelque part (somewhere)
assez (enough)
beaucoup (a lot)
peu (a little)
trop (too)
très (very)
If an adverb modifies the time, frequency, or place of an entire sentence, it will be placed at either the
beginning or the end of the phrase.
Aujourd’hui, je vais faire mes devoirs. (Today, I’m going to do my homework.)
Je n’ai pas fait grand-chose hier. (I didn’t do much yesterday.)
Je rencontre mes amis là-bas. (I’m meeting my friends there.)
© 2011 Middlebury Interactive Languages. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages. If an adverb is modifying an adjective (or another adverb), than the adverb will be placed directly
before the adjective it is modifying.
Elle est bien habillé. (She is well dressed.)
Je suis trop paresseux. (I’m too lazy.)
Work on forming adverbs from the adjectives that you already know, and use them in your speech
and writing. They well help you to communicate more clearly and naturally.
© 2011 Middlebury Interactive Languages. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages.