Position of adverbs

Kay C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Position of adverbs

The question was "Nous ________ beaucoup de vin samedi dernier. We drank a lot of wine last Saturday.(HINT: Conjugate ''boire'' (to drink) in Le Passé Composé)"  
While I am aware this question relates to the compound verb, I am unclear about why the "beaucoup" is not between the auxiliary and past participle as per this lesson? Can you advise? 
Asked 2 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

This is not the adverb 'beaucoup' but the expression "beaucoup de" - which Larousse refers to as a "locution déterminante", wordreference as a "preposition (of quantity)".  In either case it modifies the following noun here, not the verb. So the sentence is "We drank" - (what?) - "a lot/lots of.... wine". In French that is "Nous avons bu" (or "on a bu") - (quoi ?) beaucoup de ....vin.

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Kay,

The adverb "beaucoup" needs to follow at the end of the passé composé of boire to modify the extent of how much was drank.

There are examples shown later in the lesson about this positioning of the adverb.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Kay C. asked:

Position of adverbs

The question was "Nous ________ beaucoup de vin samedi dernier. We drank a lot of wine last Saturday.(HINT: Conjugate ''boire'' (to drink) in Le Passé Composé)"  
While I am aware this question relates to the compound verb, I am unclear about why the "beaucoup" is not between the auxiliary and past participle as per this lesson? Can you advise? 

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
Clever stuff happening!