Adverbs of time answer the question quand? (when?). They are among the very first words a learner needs because almost every sentence about real life situates an action somewhere on a timeline — yesterday I called my mother, I'm leaving soon, we've already eaten. French has a compact and very productive set of these adverbs, and their position in the sentence is more constrained than English speakers expect. Getting the placement right is what makes the difference between J'ai déjà mangé (the natural French) and *J'ai mangé déjà (a transparent translation from English).
This page covers the everyday time adverbs you will use in conversation from day one, plus the placement rules that govern them in both simple and compound tenses.
The calendar set: yesterday, today, tomorrow
These are the words for naming days relative to the moment of speaking. They are fixed expressions and do not vary.
| French | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| avant-hier | the day before yesterday | hyphenated, two words |
| hier | yesterday | pronounced /jɛʁ/ |
| aujourd'hui | today | note the apostrophe — au-jour-d'hui |
| demain | tomorrow | nasal /dəmɛ̃/ |
| après-demain | the day after tomorrow | hyphenated |
Hier, j'ai dîné chez mes parents.
Yesterday I had dinner at my parents'.
Aujourd'hui, il fait un temps magnifique.
The weather is gorgeous today.
On se voit demain matin ?
See you tomorrow morning?
Je pars en vacances après-demain — j'ai encore des valises à faire.
I'm leaving on holiday the day after tomorrow — I still have suitcases to pack.
These adverbs typically sit at the start of the sentence (for emphasis on the time frame) or at the end. They almost never go in the middle.
J'ai vu Sophie hier.
I saw Sophie yesterday.
Demain, on prend le train de huit heures.
Tomorrow we're taking the eight o'clock train.
Now, soon, early, late
These adverbs locate an action relative to the present moment or to an expected time.
Je dois partir maintenant, sinon je rate mon bus.
I have to leave now, otherwise I'll miss my bus.
On arrive bientôt — encore dix minutes.
We're arriving soon — ten more minutes.
Tu es arrivé tôt ce matin.
You got here early this morning.
Désolée, je suis rentrée tard hier soir.
Sorry, I got home late last night.
Tôt and tard mean early and late relative to an expected time. They are not the same as en avance and en retard, which mean ahead of schedule and behind schedule respectively. Je suis arrivé tôt means I came early (perhaps deliberately); je suis arrivé en avance means I was earlier than expected for the appointment. English uses early for both — French distinguishes them.
Le train est en retard de vingt minutes.
The train is twenty minutes late.
Je préfère arriver en avance plutôt qu'en retard.
I'd rather arrive early than late.
Already, still, yet, again — the tricky four
These four English meanings map onto only two French words — déjà and encore — and the same English word can correspond to different French adverbs depending on context. This is a major source of learner errors.
Déjà — already, ever
Déjà means already in affirmative sentences. In questions it can mean ever (in the sense of at any point so far?).
J'ai déjà mangé, merci.
I've already eaten, thanks.
Tu es déjà allé au Japon ?
Have you ever been to Japan?
On est déjà arrivés ? — Oui, c'est ici.
Are we there already? — Yes, this is the place.
In compound tenses, déjà goes between the auxiliary and the past participle. This position is fixed.
J'ai déjà vu ce film trois fois.
I've already seen this film three times.
Elle est déjà partie ?
Has she already left?
Encore — still, yet, again, more
Encore is famously ambiguous. It can mean still (continuation), yet (in negatives), again (repetition), or more (additional quantity). Context picks the right reading.
Tu travailles encore à dix heures du soir ?
You're still working at ten in the evening?
Je n'ai pas encore fini.
I haven't finished yet.
Il a encore oublié les clés.
He forgot the keys again.
Tu veux encore du vin ?
Do you want more wine?
The combination pas encore is the standard equivalent of English not yet. The two words go together as a unit, with encore following the negative pas.
— Tu as fait tes devoirs ? — Non, pas encore.
— Have you done your homework? — No, not yet.
Always, often, sometimes, rarely, never
These are the core frequency adverbs. They are covered in more depth on the dedicated adverbs/frequency page, but the basics belong here too because time and frequency overlap.
Je prends toujours un café après le déjeuner.
I always have a coffee after lunch.
On se voit souvent depuis qu'elle a déménagé près de chez moi.
We see each other often since she moved near my place.
Parfois, je me demande pourquoi j'ai accepté ce travail.
Sometimes I wonder why I took this job.
Il vient rarement au bureau le vendredi.
He rarely comes to the office on Fridays.
Je ne mange jamais de viande.
I never eat meat.
Jamais requires the negative particle ne before the verb. *Je mange jamais is dropped-ne casual speech (acceptable spoken French in informal contexts) but considered ungrammatical in writing. See negation/ne-jamais for the full treatment.
The expression de temps en temps (from time to time) is extremely common in spoken French and sits at the parfois level of frequency.
De temps en temps, on dîne ensemble.
Every once in a while, we have dinner together.
Finally, at last
Enfin has two distinct uses that English keeps separate. It can mean finally (after a long wait) or I mean (a hesitation marker correcting yourself mid-sentence).
Enfin, te voilà !
Finally, here you are!
J'ai enfin trouvé mes lunettes.
I finally found my glasses.
C'est un film intéressant — enfin, je veux dire, pas mal.
It's an interesting film — well, I mean, not bad. (informal hesitation)
The second use is a discourse marker, equivalent to English well… or I mean… Beginners can ignore it; they will hear it constantly in conversation.
Position in simple vs. compound tenses
This is where placement rules really matter. The principle:
- In simple tenses (présent, imparfait, futur simple), short time adverbs go right after the conjugated verb.
- In compound tenses (passé composé, plus-que-parfait, etc.), short time adverbs go between the auxiliary and the past participle.
Je mange souvent ici.
I often eat here. (présent — souvent after the verb)
J'ai souvent mangé ici.
I've often eaten here. (passé composé — souvent between auxiliary and participle)
Il arrivera bientôt.
He'll arrive soon. (futur — bientôt after the verb)
On a bientôt fini, encore cinq minutes.
We're almost done, five more minutes. (passé composé — bientôt between auxiliary and participle, here in the 'about to be finished' sense)
The short time adverbs that follow this pattern most consistently are déjà, encore, toujours, jamais, souvent, bientôt, parfois, rarement.
Longer time expressions and the calendar set (hier, aujourd'hui, demain, avant-hier, après-demain) stay at the ends of the sentence — they do not move inside the verb phrase.
J'ai vu Marie hier.
I saw Marie yesterday. (not *J'ai hier vu Marie)
On se verra demain matin.
We'll see each other tomorrow morning.
A scale of recency / proximity
A small reference for placing actions on a near-past or near-future timeline.
| French | English | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| il y a longtemps | a long time ago | distant past |
| récemment | recently | near past |
| tout à l'heure | a little while ago / in a little while | near past or near future |
| tout de suite | right away | immediate future |
| maintenant | now | present moment |
| bientôt | soon | near future |
| plus tard | later | indefinite future |
| un de ces jours | one of these days | indefinite future |
Tout à l'heure is the trickiest of the set for English speakers because it points both directions. Je l'ai vu tout à l'heure means I saw him a little while ago; je le verrai tout à l'heure means I'll see him in a little while. The tense of the verb disambiguates it.
Je t'appelle tout à l'heure, là je suis en réunion.
I'll call you in a bit — I'm in a meeting right now.
J'ai croisé Antoine tout à l'heure, il te passe le bonjour.
I ran into Antoine a little while ago, he says hi.
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai mangé déjà.
Incorrect — déjà goes between the auxiliary and the past participle, not after.
✅ J'ai déjà mangé.
I've already eaten.
❌ Le train est arrivé tôt en gare.
Misleading — tôt means early in the day (absolute time of day). For 'ahead of schedule,' use en avance.
✅ Le train est arrivé en avance.
The train arrived early (ahead of schedule).
❌ Je mange jamais de viande.
Incorrect in writing — jamais requires ne before the verb.
✅ Je ne mange jamais de viande.
I never eat meat.
❌ Tu as déjà été au Japon jamais ?
Incorrect — déjà and jamais cannot stack; in a question 'have you ever' is just tu es déjà allé.
✅ Tu es déjà allé au Japon ?
Have you ever been to Japan?
❌ Aujourdhui il fait beau.
Incorrect — aujourd'hui requires the apostrophe.
✅ Aujourd'hui il fait beau.
The weather is nice today.
Key takeaways
Time adverbs in French come in three groups: the calendar set (hier, aujourd'hui, demain), the moment-and-proximity set (maintenant, bientôt, tôt, tard, enfin), and the frequency set (toujours, souvent, parfois, rarement, jamais). The calendar set goes at the edges of the sentence; the short adverbs fit inside the verb cluster — after the conjugated verb in simple tenses, between auxiliary and participle in compound tenses. The trickiest words are déjà, encore, and toujours, each of which collapses several English meanings. And jamais requires the ne that English never marks. Master the placement rule and the déjà / encore / pas encore pattern early — they appear in almost every conversation.
Now practice French
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning French→Related Topics
- Les Adverbes: OverviewA1 — A map of the French adverb system: the six main types (manner, time, place, quantity, affirmation/negation, frequency), the -ment formation that powers most of them, and the default position rules that English speakers regularly get wrong.
- Adverbes de FréquenceA2 — How French expresses how often something happens — toujours, souvent, parfois, rarement, jamais — with the position rules that distinguish natural French from English-translated French, the dropped-ne pattern in casual speech, and the periodic structure with tous/chaque.
- Position des AdverbesB1 — Where adverbs go in a French sentence — the default rule (after the verb in simple tenses, inside the verb cluster in compound tenses), the short-vs-long split, sentence-modifying adverbs at the edges, and the small set of placements that are simply wrong even though they translate fine from English.
- Exprimer le Temps: durée, moment, fréquenceA2 — How French expresses moments, durations, and time markers — from telling time and naming days to the high-stakes choice between depuis, pendant, pour, il y a, and dans. The single most error-prone area of French at A2.
- Ne...jamais: neverA1 — How ne…jamais works — placement parallel to ne…pas, position between auxiliary and participle in compound tenses, the article shift to 'de', the rarer use of jamais alone meaning 'ever' in formal questions, and the fixed expressions 'à jamais' and 'jamais de la vie'.
- Le Passé Composé avec Pendant, Pour, En, Depuis, Il y aA2 — How French time expressions interact with the passé composé — the pendant / pour / en / depuis / il y a system, and the central English-speaker trap of depuis + present, not past.