adverb placement.

Question

I have noticed this sentence structure in a couple of books. Is it valid, if so are there other adverbs like this?je ne peux malheureusement pas ....Mike.

Accepted Answer

Hi Michael,
This placement of 'malheureusement' in
Je ne peux, malheureusement, pas
is valid and I think it actually conveys more regret in it than the other two possibilities offered by Chris.
These types of adverbs like précisément, vraiment, which mitigate the speech rather than modify the verbs can be used more loosely and convey slightly different degrees of mitigation.
Hope this helps!

Answer

There are a couple of rules guiding the placement of adverbs.

Here is the basic kwiziq lesson: Position of French Adverbs - general rule

A good summary and overview can be found here: http://www.frenchlanguageguide.com/grammar/placement.asp

In this sentence, you have some options:

Malheureusement, je ne peux pas.
Je ne peux pas, malheureusement.
Je ne peux malheureusement pas.

The third one, with malheureusement right after the verb, lends it some additional emphasis over the other two options.

Answer

Thanks Chris, I have looked at those sources as well as thoughtco, lawless french and others but haven't found much on the structure I mentioned. Would be interested in the rules around this in addition to your helpful contribution.