[Originally posted on 12/22/18 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by Sitesurf]
Constructing Adverbs
In English, many adverbs are constructed from adjectives by adding “-ly” to the end. For instance, “quick” becomes “quickly”. In French, add -ment to feminine adjectives to create adverbs.
- facile (easy) ⇒ facilement (easily)
- forte (strong) ⇒ fortement (strongly)
- grande (great) ⇒ grandement (greatly)
However, if the masculine form ends in -nt, replace that ending with -mment instead.
- constant (constant) ⇒ constamment (constantly)
- prudent (prudent) ⇒ prudemment (prudently)
Adverbs with Negations
In negative clauses, adverbs that would otherwise follow the verb usually appear after the negation.
- Nous ne vivons pas ensemble. — We don’t live together.
- Ce n’est pas si mauvais. — That isn’t so bad.
Important: If you find any errors in the Tips and Notes, have questions related to the grammar points above, or would like to discuss the topic in depth, please feel free to comment below. We ask that you keep your comments on topic so that this post stays educational and everyone can benefit from them. Any spam or unrelated comments will be deleted.
For more Tips and Notes, click HERE
Duolinguists 