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What Are Adverbs of Frequency?<\/h2>\n
The good news: “adverb of frequency” is one of those grammatical terms that actually sounds a bit more dramatic and intimidating than the concept itself.<\/p>\n
In case you need a refresher, an adverb in French<\/a>, just like in English, is a word that describes a verb, adjective or other adverb. Consider this basic English example: “I walked briskly<\/strong> to the grocery store.”<\/p>\n “Briskly” is an adverb because it modifies the verb “walked.” It describes the manner<\/strong> in which you walked.<\/p>\n Recall that French adverbs generally precede the verb, as in Il a lentement<\/strong> march\u00e9 au supermarch\u00e9.<\/em>\u00a0(He walked to the grocery store slowly.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n Adverbs of frequency are a specific type of adverb. They answer the question of how often<\/strong> something was done, whether it is “never,” “sometimes,” “always,” etc.<\/p>\n I’ll give you the French equivalents for these adverbs of frequency and several more in this article.<\/p>\n Jamais<\/em> is most often used in the context of a sentence such as:<\/p>\n Je ne<\/strong> dis jamais<\/strong> de gros mots. <\/em>(I never say bad words.)<\/p>\n Ne<\/em> and\u00a0jamais<\/em> form a unit, just like ne… pas.<\/em>\u00a0The difference is that, while ne… pas<\/em> simply means “not,” ne… jamais<\/em>\u00a0takes it a step further and means “never.” Recall that the conjugated verb goes in between.<\/p>\n Similar negative constructions in French<\/a> include:<\/p>\n Ne… personne<\/em> (no one, nobody) \u2192 Tu\u00a0n’<\/strong>aides personne <\/strong>!<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(You are helping no one!)<\/p>\n Ne… rien <\/em>(nothing, not anything) \u2192 Il est all\u00e9 au centre commercial, mais il n’<\/strong>a rien<\/strong> achet\u00e9.\u00a0<\/em>(He went to the mall, but he bought nothing\/he didn’t buy anything.)<\/p>\n Ne… nulle part<\/em> (nowhere, not anywhere) \u2192 J’ai cherch\u00e9 le livre, mais je ne<\/strong> pouvais le trouver nulle part<\/strong>.<\/em>\u00a0(I searched for the book, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.)<\/p>\n Jamais\u00a0<\/em>may also be used by itself as an exclamation:<\/p>\n Vous me mentez ?<\/em> (Are you lying to me?)<\/p>\n Jamais <\/strong>!<\/em> (Never!)<\/p>\n This one is pretty simple. It’s less strong than jamais<\/em>, but communicates that you do something very sparingly\u2014it’s certainly not a normal thing for you to do. A basic example:<\/p>\n Il fait rarement<\/strong> des erreurs.<\/em> (He rarely makes mistakes.)<\/p>\n Quelquefois<\/em> has the same meaning as “sometimes” in English, which you can remember simply by breaking down the word:<\/p>\n Quelque<\/em> (some) +\u00a0fois\u00a0<\/em>(times)\u00a0\u2192\u00a0quelquefois\u00a0<\/em>(sometimes)<\/p>\n Parfois<\/em> is a synonym<\/strong> and may be used interchangeably with\u00a0quelquefois<\/em>.<\/p>\n Quelquefois\/Parfois<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0on prend de la glace apr\u00e8s les cours.<\/em> <\/em>(Sometimes, we get ice cream after class.)<\/p>\n To be more specific about how often you do something, you may combine\u00a0fois<\/em> (times), a number and a unit of time. You can think of it like this:<\/p>\n Action +\u00a0Number +\u00a0Fois\u00a0<\/em>(times) +\u00a0Par<\/em> (literally, “by”) + Unit of time<\/p>\n Here is an example:<\/p>\n Je nage + deux + fois + par + semaine \u2192 Je nage deux fois<\/strong> par semaine.\u00a0<\/i>(I swim twice a week.)<\/p>\n This next example is similar but does not contain\u00a0par<\/em> or a unit of time, because the time frame we are talking about is the subject’s whole lifetime.<\/p>\n Elle a voyag\u00e9 en Europe trois fois<\/strong>. <\/em>(She has traveled in Europe three times.)<\/p>\n Ah, another one that should be quite simple for you to understand if you come from an English-speaking background.<\/p>\n Souvent<\/em> means “often.” It refers to something you do more than “sometimes,” but not all the time.<\/p>\n Elles vont souvent<\/strong> au th\u00e9\u00e2tre.<\/em> (They go to the theater often.)<\/p>\n This one is not difficult to remember. Just think of the word “habit.”<\/p>\n Put simply,\u00a0d’habitude<\/em> describes something you do on a regular basis, like your work schedule or your morning routine.<\/p>\n D’habitude<\/strong>, je travaille les apr\u00e8s-midi.<\/em> (Usually, I work in the afternoons.)<\/p>\n Furthermore,\u00a0d’habitude<\/em> has several synonyms<\/strong>, so you can easily keep variety in your French! Some include:<\/p>\n Je me l\u00e8ve habituellement<\/strong> \u00e0 six heures quarante. <\/em>(I usually get up at six forty.)<\/p>\n Another simple one: “always,” something you do all the time or whenever you can.<\/p>\n Ils arrivent toujours<\/strong> \u00e0 l’heure. <\/em>(They always arrive on time.)<\/p>\n It can also be translated as “still,” as indicated in this clip from our YouTube channel<\/a>:<\/p>\n Toujours<\/em> comes from a combination of\u00a0the word tout<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(all, every) and the word\u00a0jours\u00a0<\/em>(days).<\/p>\n You may use a similar pattern to make your description more specific:<\/p>\n Tous<\/em> (m.) or\u00a0Toutes<\/em> (f.) +\u00a0les\u00a0<\/em>+ period of time<\/p>\n You might specify a day of the week, as in tous les<\/strong> dimanches<\/em> (every Sunday).\u00a0Or use a more generic period of time like toutes les<\/strong> semaines<\/em>\u00a0(every week).<\/p>\n Here is an example in context:<\/p>\n Tu dois te brosser les dents tous les matins<\/strong>.<\/em> (You must brush your teeth every morning.)<\/p>\n You’ve probably realized by now that it’s hard to master a new French concept on the first try. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of discipline to learn a language. But it can be done!<\/p>\n One simple exercise you can use to specifically practice adverbs of frequency is to give yourself a survey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Not all surveys are annoying.<\/strong> This one can be very helpful. You can tell, in French, how often you do the following activities. If you want to be extra creative, you can add your own as well.<\/p>\n If you’re a visual learner, try reinforcing adverbs of frequency with this helpful video from Learn French with Pascal. It contains some of the words we have covered\u2014review is always good, and it can be beneficial to hear, not only read, an explanation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hearing these French frequency words used in context is another useful way to understand how they are used. For example, you could listen out for adverbs of frequency while watching French TV shows<\/a> or listening to French music, or you could try a language learning program like FluentU<\/a>. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\nEssential Adverbs of Frequency in French<\/h2>\n
1. Jamais\u00a0<\/em>(Never)<\/h3>\n
2. Rarement<\/em>\u00a0(Rarely)<\/h3>\n
3. Quelquefois<\/em>\u00a0(Sometimes)<\/h3>\n
4. Souvent\u00a0<\/em>(Often)<\/h3>\n
5. D’habitude\u00a0<\/em>(Usually)<\/h3>\n
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6. Toujours\u00a0<\/em>(Always)<\/h3>\n
How to Practice Adverbs of Frequency<\/h2>\n
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