French For Football/Grammar/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, many adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment (English "-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, malheureux → malheureusement ("unhappy" → "unhappily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:

• If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to the feminine singular form:
  • vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
  • impoli → impoliment ("rude" → "rudely")
• If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment, respectively:
  • constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
  • récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently")
• Some adjectives make other changes:
  • précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
  • gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")

(Look out though, as the -ment suffix is also used to create nouns from verbs where it then corresponds with English -ing.)

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

• bon → bien ("good" → "well")
• mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
• meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
• pire → pire ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

• ainsi ("thus" or "thusly")

Placement

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:

• complètement vrai ("completely true")
• pas possible ("not possible")
• tellement discrètement ("so discreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

• marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), plus ("not any more"), and jamais come before the infinitive:

• ne pas s'affoler ("don't panic")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

• Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly, he began to walk" or "He began slowly to walk").

Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:

• Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that")

List of common adverbs

Adverb	English	French Example	English Translation
actuellement	currently	le club évolue actuellement en deuxième division	the club currently plays in the second division
ainsi	thus	deux défenseurs ont été expulsés ainsi que le gardien de but	two backs were sent off as well as the goalkeeper
après	afterwards	On va au bar après	We'll go to the bar afterwards
assez	enough	le jeu est assez ouvert	the game is fairly open
aussi	also	j'ai aussi joué dans la même équipe	I also played in the same team
aussitôt	straight away	il récupère aussitôt la balle	he recovers the ball straight away
autant	as many / as much	six matchs et autant de victoires	six matches and as many victories
autrefois	in the past	son niveau d'autrefois	his former level
autrement	differently, otherwise	Et autrement, comment ça va ?	How's it going, otherwise?
avant-hier	on the day before yesterday	la contre-performance d'avant-hier	the poor performance of the day before yesterday
beau, bel, belle	nicely (in expressions)	bel et bien battu	well and truly beaten
beaucoup (de)	much, many	beaucoup d'occasions	lots of chances
bien	well	il est bien marqué	he is well marked
bientôt	soon	à tres bientôt	see you very soon
cependant	however	Cependant, il y a un risque de blessures.	However, there is a risk of injuries.
certainement	certainly	ce sera certainement un grand match	this will certainly be a big match
certes	admittedly, of course	leur tâche est certes plus difficile	their task is admittedly more difficult
ci-dessous	below	Rédigez votre message ci-dessous	Write your message below
combien (de)	how much, many	un succès, ô combien mérité	a success, oh how deserved
comment	how	Comment allez-vous aborder le match ?	How are you going to approach the match?
complètement	completely	il se troue complètement	he screws up completely
davantage	more, longer	ils ont davantage besoin de points	they have greater need of points
debout	standing, up	un match à dormir debout	a match to send you to sleep
dedans	inside	ils se sont rentrés dedans	they crashed into each other
en dehors de	outside, apart from	la faute était en dehors de la surface	the foul was outside the area
déjà	already	des spectateurs quittent déjà le stade	some spectators are leaving the stadium already
au delà de	beyond	au delà de 35 ans	over 35 years old
demain	tomorrow	demain soir	tomorrow evening
désormais	from now on	Les deux équipes sont désormais à égalité de points	The two teams are now level on points
devant	ahead, in front	ils manquent de créativité devant	they lack creativity at the front
doucement	gently, quietly	le match débute doucement	the match starts quietly
également	also, equally	on pourrait également citer un autre match	one could also cite another match
encore	again, still	Ben Arfa encore ménagé	Ben Arfa dropped again
enfin	at last, finally	ils gagnent enfin un match	they finally win a match
ensemble	together	on joue ensemble depuis longtemps	we have been playing (lit. play) together for a long time
ensuite	then, next	Ensuite, cela devenait très compliqué	Then it became very difficult
environ	about	il va être absent environ un mois	he will be off for about a month
facilement	easily	Le Cameroun a facilement battu la Zambie	Cameroon have easily beaten Zambia
fort	strongly	il a démarré très fort	he started very strongly
heureusement	fortunately	il n'a heureusement aucune blessure	Fortunately he does not have any injury
hier	yesterday	le résultat d'hier soir	the result of yesterday evening
ici	here, now	la saison commence ici	the season starts here
là	there	ce joueur-là a du talent	that player has some talent
là-dedans	in here, in there	il n'y a rien de mystère là-dedans	there is no mystery in it
là-dessus	on here, on there	on reste là-dessus	we stay where we are
largement	greatly, well	le ballon s'envole largement au-dessus du but	the ball soars well over the goal
légèrement	lightly, slightly	un joueur légèrement blessé	a slightly injured player
lentement	slowly	lentement mais sûrement	slowly but surely
loin	far	le match est loin d'être fini	the match is far from over
longtemps	a long time	tenir le plus longtemps possible	hold on as long as possible
lors de	during	le nombre de buts marqués lors de cette 8ème journée de Ligue 1	the number of goals scored during the eigth match day of Ligue 1
maintenant	now	Et maintenant on fait quoi?	And now, what do we do?
mal	badly, wrongly	un ballon mal dégagé	a badly cleared ball
malheureusement	unfortunately	Malheureusement, nous avons encaissé un but	Unfortunately we conceded a goal
même	even	il a même séché l'entraînement cette semaine	he even skipped training this week
moins	less, least	un match en moins	a match in hand
néanmoins	nevertheless	Formé arrière droit, il peut néanmoins rendre des services dans l'axe de la défense.	Trained as right back, he can nevertheless render service in the centre of the defence.
parfois	sometimes	Le football est parfois cruel	Football is sometimes cruel
partout	everywhere	le score est de deux buts partout	the score is two all
peu	little	on peut respirer un peu mieux	we can breathe a little easier
peut-être	perhaps	la prochaine fois, peut-être	next time, perhaps
plus	more	nous sommes plus que jamais déterminé	we are more determined than ever
plutôt	rather	des matchs plutôt lents	some rather slow matches
pourquoi	why	Pourquoi le PSG sont-ils sifflés ?	Why are Paris St. Germain whistled at?
pourtant	yet	Si près, et pourtant si loin !	So near, and yet so far!
près	close	une tentative de près	a attempt at short range
presque	almost	il joue presque tout le temps en défense	he plays in defence almost all the time
puis	then	Ce jeu est diffusé à 12h30 puis rediffusé à 19h30	This game is broadcast at 12.30 p.m. and then rebroadcast at 7:30 p.m.
quelque	approximately	on supporte l'équipe quelque soit le score	we support the team whatever the score
quelquefois	sometimes	je joue quelquefois au football	I sometimes play football
récemment	recently	ils ont joué du bon football récemment	they played some good football recently
seulement	only	à seulement 17 ans, il a joué en équipe première	at only 17 years old, he played in the first team
si	yes, so, however, as	ils ne méritent pas d'être en si bonne position	they don't deserve to be in as good a position
souvent	often	il est souvent en position de hors-jeu	he is often in an offside position
surtout	above all	on était pauvre défensivement surtout	we were poor, above all in defence
tant	so much	un match tant attendu	a much awaited match
tantôt	sometimes, this afternoon	tantôt à gauche, tantôt à droite	sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right
tard	late	le gardien recule, mais trop tard	the keeper falls back, but too late
tellement	so much, so many	le football c'est tellement imprévisible	football is so unpredictable
tôt	soon, early	les billets ont été épuisés plus tôt que prévu	the tickets were sold out earlier than expected
toujours	still, always	ils sont toujours invaincus chez eux	they are still unbeaten at home
tout	very, quite	tout à fait justifié	totally justified
très	very	le gardien est très sollicité	the keeper is very much in demand
vite	quickly	On va vite rebondir	We will bounce back quickly
vraiment	really, truly	ils n'ont jamais vraiment brillé	they never really shone
y	to it, there	il y a une faute flagrante	there's an blatant foul

Adverbs Expressing Degree

• assez - rather, enough
  • Il est assez prometteur. - He is quite promising.
• très - very
  • Il est très_zprometteur. - He is very promising.
• vraiment - truly, really
  • Il est vraiment prometteur. - He is really promising.

Comparative

Grammar (upload audio) The Comparative · Le Comparatif
Adverbs
Sub. + Verb	Comparative	Adverb	Comparative	Object
Je cours	plus/aussi/moins	vite	que	toi.
I run	more as less	quickly	than as than	you.

Acknowledgements

This page is based on original text from French/Grammar/Adverbs dated 29 October 2009.