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French -ment adverbs: eight questions on spelling and use

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Practise lentement, poliment, prudemment and other French -ment adverbs. Study the spelling patterns, then check eight answers with clear explanations.

In short

Many French manner adverbs come from the feminine adjective plus -ment: lent → lente → lentement. Other common patterns include poli → poliment, constant → constamment and prudent → prudemment. An adverb stays unchanged: elles parlent lentement.

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Two friends walking slowly and chatting softly beside a French canal.
A quiet walk gives lentement an everyday setting. Illustration: Atelier
Study first: common spelling patterns
PatternAdjectiveAdverbMeaning
Feminine + -mentlent → lentelentementslowly
Feminine + -mentdoux → doucedoucementgently / softly
Already ends in -ecalmecalmementcalmly
Vowel basepolipolimentpolitely
-ant → -ammentconstantconstammentconstantly
-ent → -emmentprudentprudemmentcarefully
Accent to rememberprécisprécisémentprecisely
Form to remembergentilgentimentkindly

Son explication est claire.Her explanation is clear.

Focus: an adjective describing the explanation

Elle explique clairement la règle.She explains the rule clearly.

Focus: an adverb describing the action

Claire agrees with feminine explication. Clairement tells you how she explains. Change the subject to several people and the adverb keeps the same spelling: Elles expliquent clairement la règle. Only the conjugated verb changes here.

The endings -amment and -emment have the same usual pronunciation. Use the adjective to remember the spelling: constant keeps the a family; prudent keeps the e family. Learn lent → lentement separately. The pattern in -ent has exceptions.

  1. Question 1No account needed
    Form the adverb from lent.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    lentement. Start from feminine lente and add -ment. The result is lentement.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    Describe how they answer.Elles répondent ___.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    poliment. The action needs an adverb: poliment. It is formed from poli, without adding an e.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    Choose the adjective describing the explanation.Son explication est ___.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    claire. The adjective describes feminine singular explication, so use claire.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    Form the adverb from constant.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    constamment. The -ant pattern gives -amment, with double m: constamment.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    Form the adverb from prudent.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    prudemment. Prudent forms prudemment, with -emment. Remember its spelling with the adjective.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    Keep the adverb with a plural subject.Les deux collègues parlent ___.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    calmement. The adverb calmement describes the way they speak and stays unchanged.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Choose the standard adverb from précis.Elle décrit ___ le problème.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    précisément. Précisément has an acute accent on the é before -ment.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    What does heureusement mean here?Heureusement, tout le monde est là.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Fortunately.. At the start of this sentence, heureusement comments on the welcome fact that everyone is present.

Where does the adverb go?

Elle parle doucement.

She speaks softly.

Elle a clairement expliqué son choix.

She clearly explained her choice.

With a simple verb, a manner adverb often follows it. In a compound tense, placement varies: Elle a expliqué clairement son choix is also possible. And French has plenty of adverbs outside this family: bien, mal, vite and souvent are useful examples.

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