In French, intensifiers and quantifiers are words like beaucoup meaning a lot, très meaning very, or extrêmement meaning extremely. They are adverbs and they’re a great tool for enriching your sentences. You will use quantifiers and intensifiers when you want to add extra meaning to the noun, adjective, or other adverb that you are describing. For example, can you see how using different quantifiers can not only make your sentence more interesting, but also change the meaning of the sentence? Take a look:
In this article, you will learn some very common French quantifiers and intensifiers — including a few very familiar ones 😉. You will also learn how to use them and where to place them in the sentence.
Quantifiers in French: What are they and how to use them?
The most common French quantifiers are:
These quantifiers should be used as adverbs to modify nouns, verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs in French.
What are quantifiers in French?
Quantifiers are French adverbs that are used to discuss estimated quantities. Let’s look closer at these two things you need to know about French quantifiers:
Quantifiers describe an approximate quantity, so they are like numbers, but not as precise.
Quantifiers are adverbs, so like other French adverbs, their form never changes.
How to use quantifiers in a French sentence?
When using a quantifier in a French sentence, the quantifier will almost always come after the conjugated verb. Here is how to position the quantifier in a French sentence:
| Word Order | Example |
|---|---|
verb + quantifier + adjective | Marina était très drôle. Translation: Marina was very funny. |
verb + quantifier + adverb | Je cours de moins en moins souvent. Translation: I run less and less often. |
verb + quantifier (+ de) + noun | Ils auront tellement de chance ! Translation: They will be so lucky! |
verb + quantifier | Il travaille beaucoup. Translation: He works a lot. |
What are the most common French quantifiers?
Finally, here is a recap of the most common French quantifiers with examples. Or, have a look at this more extensive list of French quantifiers!
| Quantifier | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|
beaucoup | much, a lot | C’est vrai que le patron aime beaucoup le rock ? Translation: Is it true that the boss likes rock music a lot? |
beaucoup de + noun | many, a lot of | En Indonésie, on parle beaucoup de langues. Translation: In Indonesia, many languages are spoken. |
assez | quite, enough | Ma nouvelle collègue est assez gentille. Translation: My new colleague is quite nice. |
assez de + noun | enough, plenty of | Stop ! Tu as mis assez de sucre ! Translation: Stop! You put in enough sugar! |
moins | less | Il pleut moins aujourd’hui. Translation: It’s raining less today. |
moins de + noun | fewer | Je trouve qu’il y a moins de chaussures en soldes cette année. Translation: I find that there are fewer shoes on sale this year. |
plus | more | Je prends ce pull, il est plus chaud. Translation: I’m taking this sweater, it’s warmer. |
plus de + noun | more | Pourquoi est-ce qu’il reçoit plus d’argent de poche que moi? Translation: Why does he receive more pocket money than me? |
autant | so much | Pourquoi est-ce qu’il parle autant ? Translation: Why does he speak so much? |
autant de + noun | as much as | Ce mois-ci, il y a autant de demandeurs d’emplois que le mois dernier. Translation: This month there are as many job seekers as last month. |
peu | little | Ils sont peu venus l’année dernière. Translation: They didn’t come often last year. |
peu de + noun | not much, not many | Il y a peu de places assises. Translation: This month there are as many job seekers as last month. |
trop | too | Malheureusement, vous êtes trop petite pour devenir hôtesse de l’air. Translation: Unfortunately, you are too small to become a flight attendant. |
trop de + noun | too much | Il y a trop de bruit ici. Translation: This month there are as many job seekers as last month. |
pas mal | quite | T’es pas mal grand pour ton âge! Translation: You’re quite tall for your age! |
pas mal de + noun **informal** | quite a lot | Il y avait pas mal de circulation sur l’autoroute. Translation: This month there are as many job seekers as last month. |
Now that we have covered quantifiers, let's take a look at intensifiers!
What are the most important intensifiers in French?
The most important and common of all French intensifiers is très meaning very. Other common intensifiers are adverbs ending in -ment, like vraiment meaning really. They are placed before an adjective or an adverb to strengthen or weaken its meaning, or on their own after a verb to modify it.
In this second part, we are going to look at all forms of intensifiers, including some informal intensifiers, and intensifiers used with a prefix.
How to use ‘très’ and ‘fort’ (very)
In French, très and fort are both used to say “very.” Of the two, fort is more formal, less common, and more literal.
Here is how you can use both adverbs in a sentence with adjectives, adverbs, or nouns:
| Adverb structure | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
très + adjective | Hier, il faisait très nuageux. | Yesterday, it was very cloudy. |
fort + adjective | Mon voisin est fort ennuyeux. | My neighbor is very boring. |
très + adverb | Il écrit très vite. | He writes very fast. |
fort + adverb | Il a habité ce village pendant fort longtemps. | He lived in this village for a very long time. |
très + noun | Ils ont très faim. | They are very hungry. |
fort + noun | J’ai eu fort peur. | I was very scared. |
What are the adverbs ending in ‘-ment’?
Tellement meaning so, extrêmement meaning extremely, merveilleusement meaning marvelously, or divinement meaning beautifully are all examples of adverbs ending in -ment that are used as intensifiers.
Fancy learning a few informal ones to sound like a native? Here we go: vachement meaning really, rudement meaning seriously, or drôlement meaning very.
For even more intensity, try adding an adjective or the adverb bien after the adverb:
How to use ‘trop’ (very) in informal French
In informal French, trop means “very” or “really,” even though it officially means “too (much).” Using trop informally this way can really help you sound like a native. Look:
Let’s have a look at how we can use trop with another popular expression: c’est stylé meaning it’s great.
How to use ‘si,’ ‘tellement,’ and ‘tant’ (much)?
Si, tellement, and tant meaning much can be used on their own or with que meaning that after an adjective.
How to use intensifier “prefixes” in French?
While they are not technically prefixes, there are certain French words which can be used before adjectives as an intensifier, and they function quite similarly to an English prefix like “mega.” In speaking, it’s common to use these French intensifiers, such as ultra meaning ultra, hyper meaning very, extremely, or super meaning very. These are only added to adjectives.
In brief
When you’re looking to enrich your French sentences with quantifiers and intensifiers, remember what we’ve learned in this post! Here’s a recap:
Quantifiers and intensifiers are adverbs which bring extra information to an adjective, an adverb, a noun, or a verb.
If you wish to use a quantifier to modify a noun, you must use the preposition de after the adverb (not all adverbs can be used with de — check out our list of common quantifiers and intensifiers to remember which can be used with de in French!)
Adverbs have one single form (they don’t agree in gender or number), except for tout.
The most common quantifiers and intensifiers are beaucoup meaning a lot, trop meaning too much; so (informal), très meaning very, assez meaning quite, peu meaning little, and pas mal meaning quite a lot.
You are now ready to test your skills with these French quantifier and intensifier exercises! Bonne chance meaning good luck!
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