What happened to the "i" ?

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

What happened to the "i" ?

In a quiz I just took, 'brilliant ' becomes 'brillamment'. Is this an irregular adverb? I note that 'patient' becomes "patiemment". I would appreciate your insight. 

Asked 4 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Andrea,

The adjective ‘brilliant’ is ‘brillant/e’ in French without the -i you suggest, and it behaves like the others adjectives ending in - ant :

Puissant ———> puissamment 

Bruyant ———-> bruyamment 

Indépendant ———> indépendamment 

Hope this helps!

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I found this a good summary: http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/adverbs_formation.shtml

But also no explanation why the "i" is missing in the adverb. I guess that's just the way it is.

Andrea N. asked:

What happened to the "i" ?

In a quiz I just took, 'brilliant ' becomes 'brillamment'. Is this an irregular adverb? I note that 'patient' becomes "patiemment". I would appreciate your insight. 

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