Forming adverbs from adjectives ending in -ant and -ent

Hi Margaret, the lesson is about forming adverbs. The answer was looking for this. In "fluent Spanish", "fluent" is an adjective, not an adverb. It isn't wrong but it isn't what they were looking for.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Actually, couramment doesn't mean currently, it means commonly, frequently or fluently. 

Currently would be actuellement. (Which doesn't mean actually.)

These are both faux amis.

My, I feel silly. Sorry for asking such a basic question. Thank you for the correction, and for both faux amis.

Hi Terri, don't beat yourself up about it. Such experiences are actually valuable. I guess you won't forget the meaning of couramment anytime soon. ;)

-- Chris.

As I understand it, "des autres" are "the others" and I know no other way how to say this. However:

Des autres ordinateurs -- The other computers.
D'autres ordinateurs -- Other computers.

When you use "autres" as a noun by itself, as in your example "sa haine des autres" you need the article and hence "de + les = des". If "autres" is used as an adjective as in "autres ordinateurs" you can either include the article (des autres ordinateurs = the other computers) or not (d'autres ordinateurs = other computers).

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Bonjour Dragana !

Here it's due to the fact that in French when you talk about things in general - here "others/other people" in general - you need to use the definite article (le, la, l', les), hence the use of des, and not d' .

See also https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/use-le-la-l-or-les-before-nouns-when-generalising-definite-articles

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

No, "lentement" is definitely correct. Lentemment is wrong.
I would guess that the adjective "lent" is simply too short to claim that its stem is simple "l-". Therefore the rule doesn't apply here. That's how I would argue it before a judge ;)

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Bonjour Damien !

The adjective lent can never become lemment, for the simple reason that it would make the stem of the word disappear, due to the shortness of the adjective in the first place :)
Therefore, here the regular rule of using the feminine adjective as the basis of the adverb applies:
lente-ment

Bonne journée !

Bonjour Nigel,
It is possible you are miss hearing it because, like you noted, it would be «mille cinq cent quinze»
with the number coming before cent and the same way with mille, i.e. deux mille cinq cent.

Often times one also encounters, as in English, "quinze cent quinze" instead of "mille cinque cent quinze".

-- Chris.

Hi Nigel,

Having listened to the recording, I can confirm that it says "mille cinq cent quinze" but we could also say "Quinze cent quinze" , which is of course the most famous date in history for school children as it is so easy to remember! The battle of Marignan.

Hope this helps!

Bonjour Diana,
«So couramment goes in front of the noun?» In a word, no. A general rule of thumb is this:
an adverb follows the verb. https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/view/125
Here's the take away from this lesson: Notice that in simple sentences, adverbs are placed right after the verb.
You will notice that this states in simple sentences, and of course like everything else in français, there are exceptions which is my reasoning for stating that it is a general rule of thumb.

For example He speaks French fluently. = Il parle francais couramment and He is fluent = Il parle couramment.
Beverley

HI again, I think there may be a similar example somewhere on your site, but I can't find it, so I took this from somewhere else. "Cette expression française qui date du dix-neuvième siècle est couramment utilisée de nos jours. " Couramment is before the verb, and the meaning changes.

Actually couramment is in the middle of the compound verb structure "est utilisée"

Comme d'habitude avec des adverbes?

Merci, Beverley.

Bonjour Beverley !

In French, adverbs tend to be quite flexible :)
We teach the main rule as this is always correct, but then you can sometimes have some "poetic licence", especially in short sentences.

In the case you mentioned, both placements are correct in French:
"Je parle couramment (le) français."
or
"Je parle (le) français couramment."

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt!

Bonjour Mikhail !

Here the number in question is a very famous date in French history, and the sentence refers to an exam situation for example, where you'd say "Of course the answer was [year].".
I hope that's helpful!

Ah! Thank you, I feel silly now :)