Why is 'encore' placed after 'pas' but before rien and before jamais?

Question

The lesson states "some adverbs are placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. These include 'encore'.

The Larousse online dictionary gives the following examples of 'encore' [3. dans des phrases négatives] which follow this rule using ne...pas ne...rien ne...jamais.

je n'ai pas encore fini I haven't finished yet vous n'avez encore rien vu ! you haven't seen anything yet !

je n'avais encore jamais vu ça ! I'd never seen anything like it before !

My question is, why is 'encore' placed after 'pas' but before rien and before jamais?

Thank You

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Stewart,
Jim is correct. "Ne...pas encore" (= not yet) is a "locution adverbiale" (an adverbial expression) which doesn't work the same as "ne...jamais / ne ... rien". When adding "encore" to "ne...jamais" / "ne...rien" you place the adverb "encore" just before "jamais" or "rien" to highlight you point of view ("yet").
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Stewart,This is probably best answered by one of the staff experts but have a look here:-https://www.wordreference.com/fren/encoreThe term is described as a "locution adverb" so is used as a complete part of grammar.Hope this helps.Bonne journéeJim