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Adverbs and expressions of time, frequency, and location
Adverbs and expressions of time
The following expressions are useful when talking about time:
aujourd’hui
today
demain
tomorrow
hier
yesterday
après-demain
the day after tomorrow
avant-hier
the day before yesterday
dans trois jours
in three days (from today)
dans une quinzaine
in two weeks
dans un mois
in a month
dans un an
in a year
la semaine prochaine
next week
la semaine dernière
last week
Il ira en France dans un an.
He’ll go to France in a year.
Je t’appellerai après-demain.
I’ll call you the day after tomorrow.
The adverbs listed above are ordinarily used when you are speaking directly to people, in what is known as direct style or direct speech. If you are discussing past and future events, or telling a story, you are more likely to use an indirect style, thediscours indirect (indirect speech), which you studied in Chapter 18. Here are a few time expressions typically used in indirect speech:
la veille
the day before
le jour meme
the very day
le lendemain
the day after
l’avant-veille
two days before
le surlendemain
two days later
la semaine suivante
the following week
la dernière semaine
the last week (of a sequence)
Elle est arrivée la veille de mon anniversaire.
She arrived the day before my birthday.
Nous sommes partis le lendemain.
We left the day after.
Here are some additional adverbs or expressions of time:
chaque jour
every day
tous les jours
every day
maintenant
now
en ce moment
at this present time
actuellement
presently
à l’heure actuelle
at this very moment
d’habitude
usually
d’ordinaire
ordinarily
toujours
always, still
souvent
often
ne... jamais
never
longtemps
for a long time
autrefois
formerly
rarement
seldom
tôt
early
tard
late
parfois
sometimes
quelquefois
sometimes
de temps en temps
from time to time
de temps à autre
from time to time
Il assiste rarement aux réunions.
He rarely attends meetings.
Que fait-elle actuellement?
What is she presently doing?
Expressing duration
Remember: If you are asking a question about the duration of an action that began in the past and still continues in the present, you have several options: depuis, il y a... que, or cela (ça) fait... que, used along with the duration. Note that French uses a present tense verb whereas English uses the past.
Let’s review depuis. To ask a question about the duration of an action, use Depuis quand? (Since when?) or Depuis combien de temps? (How long?)
Depuis quand (Depuis combien de temps) Julie est-elle pharmacienne?
Since when has Julie been a pharmacist?
—Julie est pharmacienne depuis dix ans.
—Julie has been a pharmacist for ten years.
J’achète mes livres chez ce libraire depuis des années.
I have been buying my books at this bookseller’s for years.
There is an important exception to the construction with depuis: In negative sentences, the passé composé is used instead of the present. For example:
Il n’a pas revu sa soeur depuis dix ans.
He has not seen his sister for ten years.
Nous ne sommes pas allées à Madrid depuis dix ans.
We have not been to Madrid for ten years.
Using adverbs with the passé compose
In the passé composé, shorter adverbs of quantity, quality, and frequency are placed between avoir or être and the past participle. See the following example sentences:
Elle étudie beaucoup.
She studies a lot.
Elle a beaucoup étudié.
She studied a lot.
Ils dépensent trop.
They spend too much.
Ils ont trop dépensé.
They spent too much.
Nous travaillons assez.
We work enough.
Nous avons assez travaillé.
We worked enough.
Il écrit très bien la musique.
He writes music very well.
Il a très bien écrit la musique.
He wrote music very well.
Tu t’exprimes mal.
You express yourself badly.
Tu t’es mal exprimé(e).
You expressed yourself badly.
Je voyage souvent en Italie.
I oft en travel in Italy.
J’ai souvent voyagé en Italie.
I oft en traveled in Italy.
Vous mentez rarement.
You rarely lie.
Vous avez rarement menti.
You have rarely lied.
To express time with the passé composé, pendant (for, during) is commonly used (although it can actually be omitted). However, pour (for) is never used to talk about duration in the past.
Il a habité pendant cinq ans à Londres.
He lived for five years in London.
Il a habité cinq ans à Londres.
He lived five years in London.
Nous avons voyagé pendant un mois en Italie.
We traveled for a month in Italy.
Nous avons voyagé un mois en Italie.
We traveled one month in Italy.
Interrogative forms; question words
When you want to formulate questions, interrogative words come in handy. Here are some important ones:
pourquoi
why
où
where
quand
when
comment
how
combien
how much
que
what
qui
who, whom
dans quelle mesure
to what extent
Adverbs and expressions of location
Here are some words that are helpful when talking about location:
ici
here
là
there
là-bas
over there
ailleurs
elsewhere
ça et là
here and there
à cet endroit
in this place
là-haut
up there
partout
everywhere
près
near, close
loin
far
à côté
next to, beside
auprès
next to, close to
dehors
outside
dedans
inside
devant
in front of
derrière
behind
dessus
on top
dessous
under
Ici, tout est possible.
Here, everything is possible.
Les femmes d’ici sont très belles.
Local women are very beautiful.
Fitzgerald est mort ici même.
Fitzgerald died in this very place.
Je le vois là, sur l’étagère.
I see it over there, on the shelf.
Mets ton sac dessous.
Put your bag underneath.
C’est écrit dessus.
It’s written on it.
Nous désirons voyager ailleurs.
We want to travel elsewhere.
Tu es juste devant.
You are right in front of it.
Vous êtes juste derrière.
You are right behind it.
C’est beaucoup trop loin.
It is much too far.
Je vois des erreurs ça et là.
I see mistakes here and there.
