French Grammar For Dummies
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French adverbs can be sorted into three categories, based on which question they answer: when, where, and how much. You’ve encountered these very common words before, and you will find more here! There, in just one sentence are three adverbs! Very (très) is an adverb of quantity, before (avant) is an adverb of time, and here (ici) is an adverb of place.

French adverbs of time

Adverbs of time answer the question quand (when). Here are a few common adverbs of time.

  • actuellement (currently)

  • après (after)

  • aujourd’hui (today)

  • avant (before)

  • d’abord (first[ly])

  • déjà (already)

  • demain (tomorrow)

  • enfin (finally)

  • ensuite (then, next)

  • hier (yesterday)

  • immédiatement (immediately)

  • jamais (never)

  • longtemps (a long time)

  • maintenant (now)

  • parfois (sometimes/occasionally)

  • plus tard (later)

  • rarement (rarely)

  • souvent (often)

  • tard (late)

  • tôt (early)

  • toujours (always)

  • toujours (still)

  • tout de suite (right away)

Would you like to see a few of them in action?

Il fait toujours ses devoirs seul. (He always does his homework alone.)
D’abord, elle se lève, puis elle prend son café. (First she gets up, then she has her coffee.)
Ouvrez la porte tout de suite! (Open the door right away!)

French adverbs of place

Adverbs of place answer the question (where). Here are a few common adverbs of place:

  • (where)

  • ici (here)

  • loin (far)

  • partout (everywhere)

  • quelque part (somewhere)

  • nulle part (nowhere)

  • devant (in front)

  • derrière (behind)

  • à l’interieur (inside)

  • dehors (outside)

  • sur (on)

  • par-dessus/sur (over)

  • sous (under)

  • à droite (to the right)

  • à gauche (to the left)

  • en haut (up/upstairs)

  • en bas (down/downstairs)

  • en haut de (at the top)

  • au fond (at the bottom)

  • à côté (next door/next to)

  • près (d’ici) (close/nearby)

Check out some adverbs of place in the following sentences:

Le chat dort sous la table. (The cat sleeps under the table.)
Ils habitent loin. (They live far away.)
Tournez à droite. (Turn right.)

French adverbs of quantity

Adverbs of quantity answer the question combien (how much/how many). Here are some common adverbs of quantity:

  • assez (enough)

  • autant (as much)

  • beaucoup (a lot)

  • combien (how much/how many)

  • moins (less)

  • peu (little)

  • plus (more)

  • presque (almost)

  • tellement (so much)

  • très (very)

  • trop (too much)

Here are a few of them in action:

Nous avons beaucoup mangé à Thanksgiving. (We ate a lot at Thanksgiving.)
J’ai assez attendu! (I waited enough!)
Tu es très gentil. (You are very kind.)

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Véronique Mazet has a doctorate in French from the University of Texas at Austin and is the author of two successful grammar books. She currently teaches French at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas.

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