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Adverbs:
Adverbs describe how, when, and where actions take place. They modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.
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To form an adverb from an adjective that ends in a consonant, take the feminine singular form and add
-ment. This ending is equivalent to the English -ly.
masculine singular adj. --- feminine singular adj. --- adverb
- actif --- active --- activement (actively)
- franc --- franche --- franchement (frankly, honestly)
- heureux --- heureuse --- heureusement (fortunately)
- malheureux --- malheureuse --- malheureusement (unfortunately)
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If the masculine singular form of an adjective ends in a vowel, just add -ment to the end.
masculine singular adj. --- adverb
- absolu --- absolument (absolutely)
- vrai --- vraiment (really)
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To form an adverb from an adjective that ends in -ant or -ent in the masculine singular, replace the ending with -amment or -emment, respectively. Both ending are pronounced identically.
masculine singular adj. --- adverb
- constant --- constamment (constantly)
- courant --- couramment (fluently)
- différent --- différemment (differently)
- évident --- évidemment (obviously)
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Some adverbs are irregular:
masculine singular adj. --- adverb
bon --- bien (well)
gentil --- gentiment (nicely)
mauvais --- mal (badly)
- Son français est bon; il le parle bien.
- -- His French is good; he speaks it well.
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Although the adverb rapidement can be formed from the adjective rapide, you can also use the adverb vite to say fast.
- Bérénice habite déjà ici? --- Oui, elle a vite déménagé.
- -- Is Bérénice already living here? --- Yes, she moved fast.
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Adverbs of frequency:
De temps en temps (from time to time), en général (in general), and quelquefois (sometimes)
- Elle visite la capitale de temps en temps.
- -- She visits the capital from time to time.
- En général, les Parisiens n'ont pas de garage.
- -- In general, Parisians don't have a garage.
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Place an adverb that modifies an adjective or another adverb before the word it modifies.
- La pièce est assez grande.
- -- The room is pretty large.
- Ils font très vite les rénovations.
- -- They're remodeling very quickly.
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Place an adverb that modifies a verb immediately after the verb.
- Elle parle bien le français?
- -- Does she speak French well?
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In the passé composé, place short adverbs before the past participle.
- Ils ont vite emménage.
- -- They moved in quickly.
but
- Ils ont gagné facilement.
- -- They won easily.
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The Imparfait:
The imparfait can be translated several ways into English.
- Hakim déménageait souvent quand il était petit.
- -- Hakim moved often when he was little.
- -- Hakim used to move often when he was little.
- -- Hakim was moving often when he was little.
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The imparfait is used to talk about actions that took place repeatedly or habitually during an unspecified period of time.
- Je passais l'hiver à Lausanne.
- -- I was spending the winters in Lausanne.
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The imparfait is a simple tense, which means that it does not require an auxiliary verb. To form the imparfait, drop the -ons ending from the nous form of the present tense and replace it with these endings.
parler (parl ons), finir (finiss ons), vendre (vend ons), boire (buv ons)
- je-- parlais, finissais, vendais, buvais
- tu-- parlais, finissais, vendais, buvais
- il/elle-- parlait, finissait, vendait, buvait
- nous-- parlions, finissions, vendions, buvions
- vous-- parliez, finissiez, vendiez, buviez
- ils/elles-- parlaient, finissaient, vendaient, buvaient
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Verbs whose infinitives end in -ger add an e before all endings of the imparfait except in the nous and vous forms. Verbs whose infinitives end in -cer change c to ç before all endings except in the nous and vous forms.
- tu déménageais but nous déménagions
- les invités commençaient but vous commenciez
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Note that the nous and vous forms of infinitives ending in -ier contain a double i in the imparfait.
- Vous skiiez dans les Alpes en janvier.
- -- You used to ski in the Alps in January.
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The imparfait is used for the description, often with the verb être, which is irregular in this tense.
- j'-- étais
- tu-- étais
- il/elle-- était
- nous-- étions
- vous-- étiez
- ils/elles-- étaient
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Note the imperfect forms of these expressions:
- Il pleuvait chaque matin.
- -- It rained each morning.
- Il neigeait parfois au printemps.
- -- It snowed sometimes in the spring.
- Il y avait deux lits et une lampe.
- -- There were two beds and a lamp.
- Il fallait payer le loyer.
- -- It was necessary to pay rent.
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