French Adverbs - Adverbes français

Lessons about the meaning, usage, formation, and placement of French adverbs

General info

Introduction to French Adverbs
A definition and list of the most important French adverbs for beginners.

Adverbs - Types, Placement, Formation
Learn all about the different types of French adverbs, where they are placed in a sentence, and how to make them out of adjectives.
 

Types of French Adverbs

Adverbs of Frequency (Jamais, Parfois, Souvent...)
French adverbs of frequency explain how often something occurs.

Adverbs of Manner (Absolument, Franchement, Vite...)
Adverbs of manner explain how something happens - the majority end in -ment.

Adverbs of Place (Ailleurs, Ici, Partout...)
French adverbs of place explain where something occurs.

Adverbs of Quantity (Beaucoup de, Combien de, Très...)
French adverbs of quantity explain how many or how much.

Adverbs of Time (Alors, Avant, Déjà...)
French adverbs of time explain when something happens.

Adverbial Adjectives ~ Adjectifs adverbiaux
By now you know that French adjectives normally agree with the nouns they modify, but you've probably seen a few cases where they don't. There are a number of French adjectives which are often used as adverbs (that is, they modify verbs rather than nouns), and when used in this way, these "adverbial adjectives" are invariable.

Comparative and Superlative Adverbs (Plus... Moins... Aussi... Autant... que)
Better than the best lesson for learning all about comparative and superlative adverbs. ;-)

Exclamative Adverbs (Comme, Que, Qu'est-ce que, Ce que, and Combien)
Exclamative adverbs are placed in front of clauses to indicate shock, disbelief, awe, or some other strong emotion felt by the speaker.

Indefinite Adverbs (Parfois, Peu, N'importe...)
I find that one of the hardest things to translate into French is indefiniteness. I've never seen this covered in French grammar books, but I think French indefinite adverbs, or at least the French equivalents for English indefinite adverbs, is an interesting grammatical category that should not be overlooked.

Interrogative Adverbs (Quand, Où, Pourquoi, Comment...)
When, where, why, how....

Negative Adverbs (Ne... pas, plus, jamais...)
Making sentences negative in French is a bit different than in English, due to the two-part negative adverb and the sometimes difficult issue of placement. Normally, ne...pas is the first negative adverb that we learn. But there are actually many negative adverbs used just like it, so once you understand ne...pas, you can make just about any sentence negative.
 

Specific French Adverbs

Adverbial Pronouns (Y, En)
The adverbial pronouns y and en are so tiny that one might think their role in a sentence is not very important, but in fact quite the opposite is true. They are both extremely important in French.

Bon vs Bien, Mauvais vs Mal
The French words bon and bien, mauvais and mal are often mixed up - study this lesson to straighten them out.

Comme
The French word comme can be a conjunction, adverb, or part of an adverbial phrase and is one of the most common French words.

Comment
The French adverb comment can interrogative or exclamative and is one of the most common French words. Learn how to use comment to mean "how" and "what" as well as which uses of "how" in English are not translated by comment in French.

Dessus and Dessous
The adverbs dessus and dessous are used alone as well as in a number of adverbial phrases, such as au-dessus/dessous, là-dessus/dessous, par-dessus/dessous, and more. Despite their similar spelling, dessus and dessous are exact opposites.

Encore vs Toujours
The French adverbs encore and toujours can be confusing, because they each have several meanings that partially overlap. After studying this lesson, you'll remember the differences toujours.

Meilleur vs Mieux
Meilleur and mieux can be confusing to French students. Meilleur is the comparative and superlative form of bon (good), while mieux is the comparative and superlative form of bien (well). When translating into English, there is no difference between meilleur and mieux, hence the confusion.

Même
The French word même can be an indefinite adjective, indefinite pronoun, or adverb, and is also used in a number of expressions, making it an extremely versatile and useful French word.

Only / Not Only - Ne... que, Seulement, and their negatives
There are two common French equivalents for the restrictive only in English: ne... que and seulement. These two terms mean essentially the same thing, but their negative forms are a bit more complicated.

Pas ~ French Negative Adverb
The French negative adverb pas is often used in conjunction with ne, but pas can also be used all on its own. The main difference is that ne... pas is used to negate a verb, while pas without ne is used to negate an adjective, adverb, noun, or some other non-verbal construction. Pas can also be used to confirm a statement.

Plus
The French word plus can be used as many different kinds of an adverb. Plus, it can be pronounced in three different ways. Learn everything you need to know about the meaning, pronunciation, and usage of plus right here.

Quelque
Quelque is an indefinite adjective and adverb that is found in numerous indefinite terms and expressions.

Si
The French word si can be an adverb or a conjunction. Either way, si has several meanings and is used in numerous French constructions.

Tant vs Autant
The French words tant and autant are both adverbs of quantity, but their meanings and uses are different. Autant means as much/many and is usually used in comparisons. Tant means so much/many and tends to be used to intensify. Take a look at this summary table for more details.

Tout
Learn all you need to know about the French adverb tout.
 

Tests
Test your knowledge of French adverbs.
 

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