Bien, mal, mieux, moins, peu (Irregular French Adverbs)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2023-05-11
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We've already learned about Forming regular adverbs with "-ment" in French (French Adverbs) (feminine adjective + -ment).

However, some adverbs have irregular stems, meaning that they differ from the original adjective.
And some are just completely irregular.

Irregular adverbs in French


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 in French (irregular comparatives and superlatives)

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Examples and resources

Elle est gentille, et elle parle gentiment.She is kind, and she speaks kindly.
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.
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.
Elle a une petite voix : on l'entend peu.She has a small voice: we don't hear her much.
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