adverbs with compound verbs

Stephanie S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

adverbs with compound verbs

For the verbs that go in the middle of compound verbs, is that always the case? I can't say "j'ai mangé beaucoup "?

'Vite' sounds strange to me in that position--"j'ai vite couru". Even Google Translate used "couru vite", although it's certainly not the final arbiter of good French :P

I'm also having a hard time finding an example with bientôt. Maybe "je vais bientôt arriver"? That's another one I would intuitively reverse--"je vais arriver bientôt ".

Asked 3 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Stephanie! Placement of adverbs in French is...fluid. Mostly adverbs follow right after the first conjugated verb, but not if they are long except for some and maybe if they are adverbs of time. ;)))

If you want to dive into an online research of that topic, here is a worthwhile starting point: https://francais.lingolia.com/en/grammar/adverbs/placement

adverbs with compound verbs

For the verbs that go in the middle of compound verbs, is that always the case? I can't say "j'ai mangé beaucoup "?

'Vite' sounds strange to me in that position--"j'ai vite couru". Even Google Translate used "couru vite", although it's certainly not the final arbiter of good French :P

I'm also having a hard time finding an example with bientôt. Maybe "je vais bientôt arriver"? That's another one I would intuitively reverse--"je vais arriver bientôt ".

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Thinking...