French grammar - The position of adverbs |
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The general rule is that French adverbs come directly after the verb that they are modifying. There are however a few special cases: • In complex tenses (like passé composé) certain adverbs come immediately after the (conjugated) auxiliary verb. -- These include shorter adverbs (such as bien, mal, trop, assez) and certain indefinite adverbs of time (such as souvent, toujours, trop, quelque fois). The slightly longer adverbs beaucoup, rarement and vraiment are also included in this group. -- In negative constructions, these adverbs are placed after the negated auxiliary construct - that is after the pas. The exceptions are certainement, généralement, peut-être, probablement and, sans doute. • Adverbs that refer to adjectives or to other adverbs are placed before the adjective or adverb in question • Adverbs that describe an infinitive come after the infinitive. |
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Il mange rapidement.
He eats quickly.
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Il a mangé rapidement.
He ate quickly.
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Il ne mange pas rapidement.
He does not eat quickly.
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Il n'a pas mangé rapidement.
He didn't eat quickly.
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Il mange trop.
He eats too much.
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Il a trop mangé.
He ate too much.
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Il ne mange pas trop.
He doesn't eat too much. |
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Il n'a pas trop mangé.
He didn't eat too much.
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Il mange beaucoup.
He eats a lot. |
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Il a beaucoup mangé.
He ate a lot.
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Il ne mange pas beaucoup.
He doesn't eat much. |
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Il n'a pas beaucoup mangé.
He hasn't eaten much.
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Il est assez bon.
He is quite good.
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Le repas est délicieux.
The meal is delicious.
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Il ne veut pas manger rapidement.
He does not want to eat quickly.
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Ils aiment beaucoup aller au cinéma.
They really like going to the cinema.
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Je mange rarement au restaurant.
I rarely eat at restaurants. |
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Il s'est rasé rapidement.
He shaved quickly. |
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Elle s'est habillée élégamment.
She dressed elegantly.
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Ils ont beaucoup aimé le film.
They really liked the movie.
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Quelqu'un a mal fermé la porte.
Someone has closed the door incorrectly.
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