In compound tenses like the passé composé, the verb is made up of two parts: the auxiliary verb (usually avoir) and the past participle.
When you use short or common adverbs—such as souvent (often), presque (almost), and à peine (barely)—they are placed directly between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. They effectively "sandwich" themselves inside the verb.
| They often had weird dreams. | Ils ont souvent fait des rêves bizarres. |
| We almost finished the deep sleep phase. | Nous avons presque fini la phase de sommeil profond. |
| You barely slept during this cycle. | Vous avez à peine dormi pendant ce cycle. |
Emphasizing the Action
Other common adverbs like vraiment (really), toujours (always), and déjà (already) follow the exact same pattern. Notice how they split the auxiliary and the main verb when describing dreams and sleep cycles.
| I just woke up because I really had a nightmare. | Je viens de me réveiller parce que j'ai vraiment fait un cauchemar. |
| We always had nightmares. | Nous avons toujours fait des cauchemars. |
| He has already analyzed the sleep phase. | Il a déjà analysé la phase de sommeil. |
Quantity and Quality
Adverbs describing quantity or quality, such as beaucoup (a lot), bien (well), and trop (too much), are also placed between the two verb parts. This is very useful when discussing how well someone rested or if they snored (ronfler)!
| He snored a lot because of his cold. | Il a beaucoup ronflé à cause de son rhume. |
| My grandfather slept well thanks to the silence. | Mon grand-père a bien dormi grâce au silence. |
| You snored too much during the film. | Tu as trop ronflé pendant le film. |
