Position of French Adverbs - with compound tenses

In French, when a verb is conjugated in a compound tense, adverbs take a specific position.

The position of adverbs with compound tenses in French

Look at these sentences:

Elle a bien mangé.She ate well

J'ai beaucoup aimé le spectacle.I really liked the show.

In compounds tenses (e.g. past involving'avoir' or 'être' as auxiliary verbs), some adverbs are placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. 

These include: assez, bien, beaucoup, bientôt, déjà, encore, enfin, mal, mieux, souvent, toujours, trop, vite, ...

BUT 

Certain adverbs of time and manner can be placed either AT THE END or AT THE START of the sentence:

e.g. hier, aujourd'hui, avant-hier, après, autrefois, ... (and some adverbs ending in -ment for emphasis)

 

Il s'est retourné lentement.He turned around slowly.

Lentement, il s'est retourné.Slowly, he turned around.

Aujourd'hui, j'ai fait un gâteau.Today, I baked a cake.

J'ai fait un gâteau aujourd'hui.I baked a cake today.

Hier, nous sommes allés à Marseille.Yesterday, we went to Marseille.

Nous sommes allés à Marseille hier.We went to Marseille yesterday.
 but you would not say "Nous sommes hier allés à Marseille." nor "Nous sommes allés hier à Marseille."

AND

Adverbs of place and certain adverbs of time usually FOLLOW the past participle: 

e.g. tard, tôt, ... and some adverbs ending in -ment

Il est parti tard.He left late.

Elle a compris facilement.She understood easily.

 

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Hier tu as joué au foot.Yesterday, you played football.
Tu as joué au foot hier.
You played football yesterday.
Aujourd'hui, j'ai fait un gâteau.Today, I baked a cake.
J'ai fait un gâteau aujourd'hui.I baked a cake today.
Elle a bien mangé.She ate well
Hier, nous sommes allés à Marseille.Yesterday, we went to Marseille.
J'ai beaucoup aimé le spectacle.I really liked the show.
Il s'est retourné lentement.He turned around slowly.
Lentement, il s'est retourné.Slowly, he turned around.
Nous sommes allés à Marseille hier.We went to Marseille yesterday.
Il est parti tard.He left late.
Elle a compris facilement.She understood easily.
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