We've already learned about Forming regular adverbs with -ment (feminine adjective + -ment).
However, some adverbs have irregular stems, meaning that they differ from the original adjective.
And some are just completely irregular.
Here is a table of these irregular adverbs:
| Feminine adjective | English | Irregular adverb | English |
| gentille | kind | gentiment | kindly |
| brève | brief | brièvement | briefly |
| bonne | good | bien | well |
| mauvaise | bad | mal | badly |
| petite | small | peu | not much |
| moindre | lesser | moins | less |
| meilleure | better | mieux | better |
Listen to these examples:
Le bon nageur plonge bien.
The good swimmer dives well.
C'était une brève rencontre: je l'ai vu brièvement.
It was a brief meeting: I saw him briefly.
Une moindre personne lirait moins.
A lesser person would read less.
Le meilleur élève parle mieux français que moi.
The best pupil speaks French better than me.
Un mauvais vin vieillit mal.
A bad wine ages badly.
Elle a une petite voix: on l'entend peu.
She has a small voice: we don't hear her much.
Elle est gentille, et elle parle gentiment.
She is kind, and she speaks kindly.
See also the related lesson:
Meilleur, mieux, pire / plus mauvais, plus mal = better, best, worse and worst (irregular comparatives and superlatives)
Examples and resources
Une moindre personne lirait moins.
A lesser person would read less.
C'était une brève rencontre: je l'ai vu brièvement.
It was a brief meeting: I saw him briefly.
Elle a une petite voix: on l'entend peu.
She has a small voice: we don't hear her much.
Un mauvais vin vieillit mal.
A bad wine ages badly.
Elle est gentille, et elle parle gentiment.
She is kind, and she speaks kindly.
Le bon nageur plonge bien.
The good swimmer dives well.
Le meilleur élève parle mieux français que moi.
The best pupil speaks French better than me.
Q&A
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
23/08/16
Arndís
Kwiziq community member
21 May 2018
2 replies
How is the gender relevant?
The lesson talks about feminine adjectives, but these adjectives can also be masculine, like bon and gentil. Why does it talk about them as feminine?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22 May 2018
22/05/18
Bonjour Arndís !
The part about feminine adjectives refers to how to form regular adverbs, whereas this lesson is about irregular ones :)
I agree that it can be a bit confusing, so I've rephrased this intro to remove ambiguity.
Bonne journée !
Arndís
Kwiziq community member
22 May 2018
22/05/18