फ़्रेंच चीटशीट

Where the adverb goes

after the verb — and in the past, inside itB1

In one line

The adverb goes after the conjugated verb, never between subject and verb — and in compound tenses, short adverbs sit between the auxiliary and the participle.

The table

TenseAdverb positionExamplePronunciation
simpleafter the verbIl mange vite./il mɑ̃ʒ vit/
compound, short adverbbetween auxiliary and participleIl a bien mangé./il a bjɛ̃ mɑ̃.ʒe/
compound, long adverbafter the participleIl a mangé rapidement./il a mɑ̃.ʒe ʁa.pid.mɑ̃/
negativeafter pasIl ne mange pas vite./il nə mɑ̃ʒ pa vit/
with an infinitivebefore the infinitiveIl va bien manger./il va bjɛ̃ mɑ̃.ʒe/

The most important difference from English: in French an adverb never goes between the subject and the verb.

❌ Il souvent mange. — English allows this ("He often eats"); French does not. ✅ Il mange souvent.

English's favourite adverb position — right before the main verb — is the one position French forbids. "I never eat", "she always works", "he often comes" all have to be rebuilt: Je ne mange jamais, Elle travaille toujours, Il vient souvent.

Which adverbs go inside a compound verb

Short, frequent ones:

AdverbExample
bien /bjɛ̃/J'ai bien dormi. /ʒe bjɛ̃ dɔʁ.mi/
mal /mal/Il a mal compris. /il a mal kɔ̃.pʁi/
déjà /de.ʒa/Tu as déjà mangé ? /ty a de.ʒa mɑ̃.ʒe/
encore /ɑ̃.kɔʁ/Il a encore oublié. /il a ɑ̃.kɔʁ u.bli.e/
toujours /tu.ʒuʁ/Elle a toujours aimé ça. /ɛl a tu.ʒuʁ.z‿ɛ.me sa/
souvent /su.vɑ̃/On a souvent parlé de ça. /ɔ̃.n‿a su.vɑ̃ paʁ.le də sa/
jamais /ʒa.mɛ/Je n'ai jamais vu ça. /ʒə ne ʒa.mɛ vy sa/
beaucoup /bo.ku/Il a beaucoup travaillé. /il a bo.ku tʁa.va.je/
trop /tʁo/J'ai trop mangé. /ʒe tʁo mɑ̃.ʒe/
presque /pʁɛsk/J'ai presque fini. /ʒe pʁɛsk fi.ni/
vraiment /vʁɛ.mɑ̃/C'était vraiment bien. /se.tɛ vʁɛ.mɑ̃ bjɛ̃/
peut-être /pø.tɛtʁ/Il a peut-être raison. /il a pø.tɛtʁ ʁɛ.zɔ̃/

Here English agrees with French — "I have already eaten", "he has never seen it" — the adverb sits between the two parts in both languages. So the compound tenses are the easy half of this page.

And long -ment adverbs go after the participle:

Il a répondu immédiatement. rather than Il a immédiatement répondu — though the latter is also heard and is not wrong, just more emphatic.

Adverbs of time and place — first or last

These are freer and can open the sentence:

Pronunciation
Demain, je pars.emphasis on the time/də.mɛ̃ ʒə paʁ/
Je pars demain.neutral/ʒə paʁ də.mɛ̃/
Ici, on parle français.emphasis on the place/i.si ɔ̃ paʁl fʁɑ̃.sɛ/
On parle français ici.neutral/ɔ̃ paʁl fʁɑ̃.sɛ i.si/

aujourd'hui hier demain maintenant all work in three positions — first, last, or after the verb. Hier j'ai travaillé and J'ai travaillé hier are both correct. English does the same.

très and beaucoup — a difference always got wrong

Goes withExample
très /tʁɛ/adjectives and adverbstrès grand /tʁɛ ɡʁɑ̃/
très vite /tʁɛ vit/
beaucoup /bo.ku/verbs and nounstravailler beaucoup /tʁa.va.je bo.ku/
beaucoup de livres /bo.ku də livʁ/
❌✅
Je travaille très.Je travaille beaucoup.
C'est beaucoup grand.C'est très grand.
J'ai très faim.✅ correct — faim behaves like an adjective here

English splits these the same way and you will not go wrong on the main rule: "very tall" but "work a lot", never "work very". très is "very"; beaucoup is "a lot".

The genuine exception is the avoir expressions. With avoir faim / soif / froid / chaud / peur / sommeil, French uses très, not beaucoup: J'ai très faim, never beaucoup faim. English says "very hungry" here too, because English treats it as an adjective — so trust the English on this one and use très.

Examples

EnglishFrenchPronunciation
He eats fast.Il mange vite./il mɑ̃ʒ vit/
I slept well.J'ai bien dormi./ʒe bjɛ̃ dɔʁ.mi/
Have you already eaten?Tu as déjà mangé ?/ty a de.ʒa mɑ̃.ʒe/
I've never seen that.Je n'ai jamais vu ça./ʒə ne ʒa.mɛ vy sa/
He often comes.Il vient souvent./il vjɛ̃ su.vɑ̃/
He answered immediately.Il a répondu immédiatement./i.l‿a ʁe.pɔ̃.dy i.me.djat.mɑ̃/
Tomorrow I'm leaving.Demain, je pars./də.mɛ̃ ʒə paʁ/
I'm very hungry.J'ai très faim./ʒe tʁɛ fɛ̃/
I work a lot.Je travaille beaucoup./ʒə tʁa.vaj bo.ku/
I've almost finished.J'ai presque fini./ʒe pʁɛsk fi.ni/

Common mistakes

❌✅Why
Il souvent mange.Il mange souvent.No adverb between subject and verb
J'ai dormi bien.J'ai bien dormi.Short adverb inside the compound verb
Je travaille très.Je travaille beaucoup.très cannot modify a verb
C'est beaucoup cher.C'est très cher.beaucoup cannot modify an adjective
J'ai beaucoup faim.J'ai très faim.avoir faim takes très
Il ne mange vite pas.Il ne mange pas vite.The adverb comes after pas

Why the adverb goes inside a compound verb

because those two words are one verb

il a mangé is two words on the outside and one verb on the inside — and an adverb naturally wants to attach to the verb.

In Old French, avoir still had its own meaning: j'ai mangé meant "I have an eaten thing". In that reading, j'ai bien mangé meant "I have a well-eaten thing" — and bien naturally sat in the middle.

Then avoir lost its meaning and became a pure auxiliary, but the adverb's position stayed where it was.

And that explains why long adverbs do not go there: they were built later, with the -ment suffix, and never fitted into the older pattern.

English went through the same process and ended up in the same place. "I have eaten" was once "I have [an] eaten [thing]" too, and English also inserts its adverbs there — "I have often eaten", "she has never seen it". So the compound-tense rule needs no learning at all; it is only the simple tenses where the two languages part.

The practical rule: if the adverb is one or two syllables and frequent, put it in the middle. If it ends in -ment and is long, put it at the end. Those two rulings are right almost every time.

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