adverbs: formation

17 oct. 2017 09:48 - language-swap

Niveau intermédiaire plus

Most of the adverbs have a termination in -ment. This is how we can recognize them. However there are strict rules to their formation.
Let's see them:

1. General rule:
The general rule is to put the termination -ment to a feminine adjective
Ex: sèche → sèchement
fraiche → fraichement

/!\ Warning: Care for the exceptions
bref → brève → brièvement
gentil → gentille → gentiment
précis → précise → précisément
profond → profonde → profondément

2. The masculine adjectives finishing by -ent see their termination in -emment
Ex: patient → patiemment
intelligent → intelligemment

/!\ Warning: care for the exceptions which use feminine adjectives
Lent → lente → lentement
Présent → présente → présentement

3. The masculine adjectives finishing by -ant see their termination in -amment
Ex: bruyant → bruyamment
étonnant → étonnamment