Thom 🌈

[worn hamlet]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[wicked salmon]

Adverbs typically follow the conjugated verb they describe. They pretty much never to my knowledge get placed between the pronoun and the verb

Also, the "juste" hanging there feels really awkward to me. I'd opt for a different construction, based on the context

Je fais rien que de manger
J'étudie, justement

[open moat]

Oh that's an adverb! So I should've conjugated that as an adverb!

I didn't know that was an adverb there

[wicked salmon]

Only verbs conjugate btw. Adverbs are effectively invariable

And yeah, adverbs are kind of a weird catchall category (this is my layperson's understanding of grammar; someone better educated is welcome to correct this)

Words that describe verbs, words that describe adjectives, words that don't fall into other categories

[tidal grotto]

It’s not entirely true that adverbs always follow the conjugated verb they describe. Adverbs often come after the verb but the truth is that their placement can vary depending on the type of adverb and the structure of the sentence, they can be placed between the pronoun and the verb in some cases

[wicked salmon]

Yes, I did say typically

I just didn't find it relevant to get into all that right now

But you are right

[tidal grotto]

You said that they pretty much never get placed between the pronoun and the verb, I think “je l’ai déjà vu” and “Il ne souvent mange pas à la maison” are good examples of this

[wicked salmon]

The adverb isn't between the proboun and the verb (ok maybe, the ne is an adverb, I'm not sure)

[tidal grotto]

Souvent is the adverb

[wicked salmon]

wait, I've never seen that construction

neat

[tidal grotto]

Il is the pronoun and mange is the verb

[wicked salmon]

yeah, I,m doing two things at once, reading comprehension isn't the best atm

[tidal grotto]

It’s a fancier construction

[wicked salmon]

thanks for pointing that out

[open moat]

So since it's an adverb should I use justement ?

[tidal grotto]

What’s the full sentence?

[open moat]

Je mange juste or "I'm just eating"
J'étudie juste or "I'm just studying"

[tidal grotto]

No

Those are inaccurate translations in this context

In French “juste" can mean "just" in the sense of "only" or "barely," but it typically needs to be placed differently in the sentence to convey that meaning

"Je mange juste" should be translated as "I only eat" or "I barely eat” depending on the context. If you really wanna say "I'm just eating," meaning you are only doing that activity at the moment, a more natural translation would be "Je suis juste en train de manger” x)

For the meaning "I'm just [doing something]," you can use "Je suis juste en train de [infinitive verb]" or "Je ne fais que [verb]" to convey that you're only doing that specific activity

[open moat]

What's the "en train de" in this sentence?

[wicked salmon]

you can think of it as "in the middle of"
French uses it to express the progressive aspect, since "i am eating" and "i eat" are both captured by "je mange"

So you use it to really emphasize that you are eating in this moment