Look at these sentences:
Il court rapidement
He runs quickly
Ils chantent bien
They sing well
Il dort souvent.
He often sleeps.
Tu parles lentement.
You speak slowly.
Notice that in simple sentences, adverbs are placed right after the verb.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
24/02/18
Yes, that's correct.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Celine
Kwiziq community member
17 January 2018
2 replies
No explanation as to why rient is before verb
laugh often" wrong, The answer is "Ils rient souvent", when I click the Explain this button there are only examples of the adverb coming after the verb. Is there some reason why in this example the adverb is before the verb? Thanks a mil, Celine"
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
17/01/18
I think you may have confused them here because they both end in -ent?
Celine
Kwiziq community member
17/01/18
I looked at that sentence so may times and never made the connection!
Ron
Kwiziq community member
28/08/17
Since there is not an example sentence, I am quite unsure the reason it was counted as incorrect. The grammar rule in the lesson is the best way to place an adverb, including «aussi», i.e. following the verb.
Aurélie is NOT going to mislead you on this (that is needless to say, but I want to reassure you). As far as your statement "It seems that wherever I put it, it's wrong», it is possible that there is a programming error that caused that, but again, without the example sentence, I am just guessing.
Bonne chance
Ron
Kwiziq community member
28/08/17
I just remember that it may be related to the passé compose, i.e. j'ai mangé une pomme. Using this example if I were to add that I had eaten a peach also, I would write it:
j'ai mangé une pomme, puis j'ai aussi mangé une pêche, --> I at and apple, then I also at a peach. While if I was writing this «pour vrai» like in a paper, I would write «J'ai mangé une pomme puis une pêche».
Please let me know if the passé compose example is what you refer to because in that case, an adverb goes between the conjugated auxiliary verb and the past participle.
à bientôt
Ron
Kwiziq community member
28/08/17
this one, Laura also writes for or has written for:
https://www.thoughtco.com/use-french-adverbs-4084828
This one is from the French department at UT at Austin which one of my native French instructors turned me on to.
https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/adv3.html
I find both are excellent if you need other resources besides Progress With Lawless French.
Bonne continuation,
Terri
Kwiziq community member
28/08/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
29/08/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/08/17
In the case you're referring to, it's actually like in English:
me too = moi aussi
Combine this with the fact that adverbs usually come after the conjugated verb (see tagged lesson), and you have : J'aime moi aussi les salades.
You can also choose to place the expression at the start of the sentence for emphasis, as in the other case: Moi aussi j'aime les salades.
See also where to place adverbs when using compound tenses:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/where-to-place-adverbs-with-verbs-in-compound-tenses
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Terri
Kwiziq community member
29/08/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
10 June 2017
2 replies
Rapidement vs vite
So, rapidement and vite are synonymous; however when I typed in vite for Henri runs quickly, it was marked as incorrect. Because they are synonymous, I feel that «vite» should be included as a correct response as well as rapidement.
Nicholas
Kwiziq community member
11/06/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
11/06/17
I would tend to agree with your reply; however, in my French thesauraus rapidement and vite are listed as synonymous.
William
Kwiziq community member
19 September 2018
1 reply
Adverbs to start a sentence
Can you start à sentence in French with an adverb?
Anxieusement, j'ai demandé: “Je ne comprends pas, qu'est-ce que vous avez fait? Est-ce légal ?
Sérieusement, il y a dix-huit temps de verbe différents en français !
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
21 September 2018
21/09/18
Hi William,
Normally adverbs which modify verbs (and adjectives) will follow (or precede) them in the sentence.
In the case of adverbs which end in 'ment' , they will almost always follow the verb they refer to, with the exceptions of 'heureusement' or 'malheureusement' which can be used at the beginning of a sentence or on their own as an exclamation.
Malheureusement, il allait trop vite = Unfortunately, he was driving too fast
There are some link adverbs (ainsi, à peine, aussi, du moins, peut-être, sans doute) which can head a sentence and sometimes they will be followed by an inversion of subject and verb. e.g.
Ainsi nous a-t-il surpris!
Peut-être va-t-il revenir...
Placing the adverb in the wrong place in French will sound like 'yoda speak' of 'Star Wars' fame and it is very instinctive...
Hope this helps!