Master French Adverbs: The “-LY to -MENT” Hack You Need to Know
Want to sound instantly more fluent in French?
Here’s a secret: if you know an English word ending in “-ly”, chances are you already know its French equivalent — you just need to swap “-ly” → “-ment.”
This simple transformation works with hundreds of adverbs and helps you describe how something happens — clearly (clairement), normally (normalement), easily (facilement).
Let’s dive into one of the easiest and most satisfying French language hacks.
The Rule
When an English adverb ends in “-ly”, in French it usually ends in “-ment.”
Examples:
- normally → normalement
- clearly → clairement
- perfectly → parfaitement
- quickly → rapidement
You don’t have to memorize each one — just apply the pattern!
️ How It Works
In French, most adverbs are formed from the feminine form of an adjective + -ment.
Here’s the simple process:
- Start with the adjective in masculine form: rapide, normal, parfait.
- If it ends in -e, keep it as is.
- If it ends in another consonant, make it feminine (often by adding -e):
- clair → claire
- sûr → sûre
- Add -ment:
- claire → clairement
- sûre → sûrement
Voilà! You’ve made an adverb.
20 Common Examples
| English | French |
|---|---|
| normally | normalement |
| clearly | clairement |
| easily | facilement |
| quickly | rapidement |
| perfectly | parfaitement |
| honestly | honnêtement |
| politely | poliment |
| exactly | exactement |
| directly | directement |
| gently | doucement |
| truly | vraiment |
| simply | simplement |
| obviously | évidemment |
| quietly | silencieusement |
| absolutely | absolument |
| recently | récemment |
| fortunately | heureusement |
| naturally | naturellement |
| seriously | sérieusement |
| finally | finalement |
Practice Time
Try converting these adverbs into French.
Remember the rule: “-ly” → “-ment” — and don’t forget to adjust for gender when needed!
️ Watch Out for Exceptions
While most adverbs follow this pattern, a few don’t. Some are irregular or have unique forms:
| English | French | Note |
|---|---|---|
| well | bien | completely irregular |
| badly | mal | irregular |
| better | mieux | irregular comparative form |
These exceptions are rare — but they’re common words, so they’re worth memorizing.
Pronunciation Tip
Adverbs ending in -ment are pronounced with a soft “mɑ̃” sound at the end — nasal and smooth, not hard.
Say it like: par-fɛ-te-mɑ̃ (parfaitement), ra-pi-de-mɑ̃ (rapidement).
How French forms “-ment” adverbs (the real rule)
French doesn’t just “swap -ly for -ment” mechanically. Most of the time, it builds the adverb from the feminine adjective:
- clair (clear, masc) → claire (fem) → clairement
- rapide (fast) → rapide (fem) → rapidement
This is why spelling sometimes surprises learners: you may need the feminine form first.
Two high‑value special endings: -amment and -emment
For many adjectives ending in -ant and -ent:
- constant → constamment
- évident → évidemment
These are extremely common in real French. Treat them as mini‑patterns inside the main pattern.
Use‑it‑today sentence templates
Adverbs become useful when you attach them to simple frames:
- Je parle + adverbe. (I speak …)
- Fais‑le + adverbe. (Do it …)
- C’est + adverbe + vrai. (It’s … true.)
Examples:
- Je parle lentement. (I speak slowly.)
- Explique‑le clairement. (Explain it clearly.)
- C’est vraiment important. (It’s really important.) (not -ment, but common adverb use)
- Il travaille efficacement. (He works efficiently.)
More high‑frequency -ment adverbs
If you want a “starter set” for reading and conversation, learn these:
- vraiment (really)
- souvent (often) (irregular, but common)
- rapidement (quickly)
- lentement (slowly)
- facilement (easily)
- simplement (simply)
- clairement (clearly)
- normalement (normally)
- généralement (generally)
- exactement (exactly)
- complètement (completely)
Learning tip: don’t learn 50 at once. Learn 10, then use them in sentences for a week.
7‑day micro‑plan (5 minutes/day)
- Day 1: Learn 10 adverbs (say them out loud).
- Day 2: Write 5 commands using adverbs (Parle lentement. Explique clairement.).
- Day 3: Add 5 “-amment/-emment” adverbs (constamment, évidemment).
- Day 4: Read a French article and highlight every adverb you see.
- Day 5: Speak: describe your day using 5 adverbs.
- Day 6: Review; keep the ones you actually use.
- Day 7: Test: translate 20 English “-ly” adverbs into French quickly.
Quick FAQ
Is every English “-ly” adverb an “-ment” adverb in French?
No. Many are, but some common adverbs are completely different (well → bien, often → souvent). Use -ment as a strong default and learn the most common irregular ones early.
The Takeaway
You don’t need to learn adverbs one by one — learn the pattern instead!
Whenever you see an English adverb ending in “-ly,” try switching it to “-ment” in French.
You’ll be amazed at how many words you already understand.
Next time you want to say something clearly, honestly, or perfectly — you’ll know:
clairement, honnêtement, parfaitement.