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
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.
Une moindre personne lirait moins.
A lesser person would read less.
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
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 !
Arndis
Kwiziq community member
22/05/18
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
23/08/16
Nicole
Kwiziq community member
9 February 2019
2 replies
About the adjective "meilleure"...
I thought "meilleure" meant "best" rather than "better," which is the meaning it's given in the chart. In the sample sentence "Le meilleur élève..." is said to mean "The best pupil..." So again, why in the chart is it said to mean better rather than best, as in the sentence? Thanks in advance.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
14 February 2019
14/02/19
Hi Nicole,
It is because of the article ‘le’ in front of meilleur which makes it ‘best’.
Le meilleur élève de la classe est Martin = The best pupil in the class is Martin But -
Marie est meilleure en anglais que Pauline = Marie is better in English than Pauline
Hope this helps!
Nicole
Kwiziq community member
14 February 2019
14/02/19
Hi Cécilie,
Thanks for your reply, as always! It seems twice now I've ended up finding a different lesson that has the answer after I post my original question. Now that I'm in level B1 I see the full lesson, which explained it well. But thank you for responding and pointing out the difference. :)