Placement – Free Exercise

Exercise

Is the adverb in the right or wrong spot? (For incorrect sentences, you will see the solution when you click “show answer” and then hover over the speech bubble.)

1. Nous avons aidé notre enfant hier à faire ses devoirs.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Hier nous avons aidé notre enfant à faire ses devoirs.|Nous avons aidé notre enfant à faire ses devoirs hier.||Adverbs that refer to an entire sentence usually come at the beginning or end of the sentence, and only very rarely at the end of the sentence.Yesterday, we helped our child with his/her homework.
2. Il n’a jamais pris l’avion.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Jamais is the second part of the negation in this sentence, so it comes after the conjugated verb.He’s never flown in a plane before.
3. Elle a changé beaucoup depuis la dernière fois.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Elle a beaucoup changé depuis la dernière fois.||When the verb is conjugated in a compound tense, shorter adverbs (bien, mal…), adverbs of manner or amount (beaucoup, trop, assez…) and certain indefinite adverbs of time (souvent, toujours, trop, quelque fois…) are placed before the participe passé.She’s changed a lot since last time.
4. Vous mangez tranquillement le dessert.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Adverbs usually come after the finite verb when it is conjugated in a simple (non-compound) tense.You calmly eat your dessert.
5. Anna et Zoé sont allées ensemble au cinéma.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Ensemble always comes after the verb to which it refers.Anna and Zoé went to the cinema together.
6. J’ai trouvé le repas dans ce nouveau restaurant réellement très bon.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Adverbs that refer to adjectives or to other adverbs are placed before the adjective or adverb to which they refer.I thought the meal at the new restaurant was really very good.
7. Sûrement ils viendront à 8 heures.
   
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   • wrong
   Ils viendront sûrement à 8 heures.||Sûrement and certainement are never placed at the beginning of a sentence.They will surely come at 8 o’clock.
8. Je ne peux pas t’aider souvent à faire tes devoirs.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Adverbs that refer to an infinitive are placed after the infinitive in question.I can’t help you with your homework often.
9. Pendant le concert, la chanteuse a chanté bien.
   
   • right
   • wrong
   Pendant le concert, la chanteuse a bien chanté.||When the verb is conjugated in a compound tense, shorter adverbs (bien, mal…), adverbs of manner or amount (beaucoup, trop, assez…) and certain indefinite adverbs of time (souvent, toujours, trop, quelque fois…) are placed before the participe passé.During the concert, the singer sang well.
10. Certainement il aura oublié ses clefs.
    
    • right
    • wrong
    Il aura certainement oublié ses clefs.||Sûrement and certainement are never placed at the beginning of a sentence.He will surely have forgotten his keys.