French Grammar in Context

Enfin il a osé parler

Dedans vous trouverez tout ce qu’il vous faudra

f In careful, formal speech and writing, if a clause or sentence begins with one of the following
adverbs – aussi(so, therefore), à peine, du moins, peut-être, sans doute, toujours(nevertheless) –
the subject and verb are inverted:
e.g. À peine était-il arrivé qu’on l’accablait de travail
Sans doute arrivera-t-il tout à l’heure

g Considerations of balance and emphasis affect the positioning of adverbs and adverbial
phrases. See Chapters 30 and 31 for further information on word order and highlighting and
emphasis.

See for further information: Coffman Crocker, pp. 41–7
Ferrar, pp. 163–73
Hawkins and Towell, pp. 108–35
Judge and Healey, pp. 261–2, 286–304, 310–16
L’Huillier, pp. 436–60
Price, pp. 477–501
Turk and Vandaele, pp. 32–43
See Chapter 8 for negative expressions.

EXERCISES

1 Give the adverbs ending in -mentwhich correspond to the following adjectives.

a récent

b énorme

c absolu

d discret

e lent

f extrême

g ponctuel

h normal

i précis

j vrai

k assidu

l profond

mvif

n gentil

2 Give the opposites of the following adverbs.

a mal

b impatiemment

c heureusement

Adverbs and adverbial phrases 113