Grammar: Adverbs - Quantifiers

Grammar: Adverbs - Quantifiers

Section: Understanding French Adverbs

• Adverbs in French modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs to specify the time, manner, place or degree of an action.
• Adverbs are generally formed in French by adding -ment to the feminine form of the adjective. However, this isn’t always the case, there are exceptions to remember.
• Examples include lentement (slowly), heureusement (fortunately), complètement (completely).
• They don’t change according to the gender or number unlike adjectives.

Section: Position of Adverbs

• Generally, adverbs in French are placed after the verb. For example, Il parle rapidement (He speaks quickly).
• However, some common adverbs like toujours (always), encore (still) and bien (well) usually come before the verb.

Section: Quantifiers as Adverbs

• Quantifiers are used to express the amount or quantity of a noun, they can function as adverbs.
• Some common quantifiers include beaucoup (a lot), peu (a little), trop (too much), suffisamment (enough) and tant (so much).

Section: Usage of Quantifiers

• Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
• They generally come after the verb. For example, Je t’aime beaucoup (I love you a lot).
• Trop and peu can come before or after the noun. For instance, Il y a trop de monde (There are too many people) or Il n’y a pas assez de pain (There is not enough bread).

Section: Negation with Quantifiers

• For negation, beaucoup, assez, and autant are commonly used after ne…pas : Je n’ai pas beaucoup d’amis (I don’t have many friends).
• However, peu in negation usually comes before ne : Peu de gens n’aiment pas le chocolat (Few people don’t like chocolate).