Adverb position

Adverb position in French depends on the tense and on the adverb.

Simple tenses: after the verb

In English, adverbs often come before the verb. In French, they come after the conjugated verb:

• Il parle souvent de toi.He often talks about you.
• Je mange rarement de la viande.I rarely eat meat.
• Elle chante bien.She sings well.

Never between subject and verb: Il souvent parle.

Compound tenses: short adverbs go in the middle

Short, common adverbs go between the auxiliary and the past participle:

• bien, mal, beaucoup, peu, trop, assez, déjà, encore, toujours, souvent, vraiment, presque, vite

• J'ai bien dormi.I slept well.
• Tu as déjà mangé ?Have you already eaten?
• Il a beaucoup travaillé.He worked a lot.
• Nous avons souvent voyagé.We've often travelled.

After the participle

Adverbs of time and place, and most longer -ment adverbs, go after the participle:

• Il est arrivé hier.He arrived yesterday.
• Je l'ai vu ici.I saw him here.
• Elle a répondu rapidement.She answered quickly.

With an infinitive

Short adverbs usually go before the infinitive:

• Il faut bien manger.You need to eat well.

At the start of the sentence

Time adverbs and sentence adverbs can go first for emphasis: Hier, il a plu. Heureusement, personne n'était là.