Adverbs ending in -ment in French

Read more about how to use Adverbs ending in -ment in French.
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Adverbs ending in -ment

Adverbs ending in -ment are formed using the adjective as a base:

• the feminine adjective ♀ + -ment (when the adjective ends in e or a consonant).

adjective
feminine adjective + -ment
adverb of manner
général (general)
générale + ment
généralement (generally)
difficile (difficult)
difficile + ment
difficilement (with difficulty)

Elle est rapide. She's quick. → Elle mange rapidement. She eats quickly.
Elle est lente. She's slow. → Il berce lentement le bébé. He's slowly rocking the baby.

• the masculine adjective ♂ + -ment (when the adjective ends in i, u or é).

vrai → vraiment true → truely, really
poli → poliment polite → politely
exagéré → exagérement exagerated, excessive → excessively, overly
absolu → absolument absolute → absolutely, totally

• adjectives ending in -ent and -ant become emment and amment.

violent → violemment violent → violently
méchant → méchamment nasty, spiteful → spitefully, badly
patient → patiemment patient → patiently

Note: -emment and -amment are pronounced in the same way:
patiemment patiently
fréquemment frequently
Special cases: There are exceptions to the rule, as ever! Here are the most common ones:

gentil → gentiment kind, nice → gently, kindly
bref → brièvement briefly → briefly
impuni → impunément unpunished → with impunity, recklessly
précipité → précipitamment hasty, rash → hastily, hurriedly

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