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Il marche vraiment lentement.

Il marche vraiment lentement.
He walks really slowly.
From Lesson 49:Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)·French

Breakdown of Il marche vraiment lentement.

marcher
to walk
lentement
slowly
vraiment
really

Questions & Answers about Il marche vraiment lentement.

Why do we use vraiment here instead of beaucoup?
You might think we need beaucoup because marche is a verb. However, we are actually describing the adverb lentement (slowly), not how much he walks. To intensify an adjective or an adverb, you use words like très (very) or vraiment (really). You would only use beaucoup (a lot) to intensify the verb itself, like in Il marche beaucoup (He walks a lot).
Could I use très in this sentence instead?
Yes! Il marche très lentement is perfectly correct and means "He walks very slowly." The word vraiment translates to "really" or "truly." Both très and vraiment follow the same rule here: they come right before the adjective or adverb they are intensifying.
Is the -ment ending in lentement similar to "-ly" in English?
Exactly! In French, you often create an adverb by taking the feminine form of an adjective and adding -ment. The word for "slow" is lent (masculine) or lente (feminine). Adding -ment to the feminine form gives us lentement (slowly).
Can I say Il vraiment marche lentement, since in English we can say "He really walks slowly"?
No, French word order is strict here. Adverbs almost never go between the subject (Il) and the verb (marche). The verb must come first, followed by the adverbs.

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