Placement of "tard, tot, plus tard, plus tot"

Question

I have the same question that several other learners have asked. About the placement of "tard, plus tard, tot, plus tot, etc" at the beginning as well as the end of the sentence. I did the same thing as Michael. I had selected the option using "plus tard" at the beginning of the sentence, but then deleted it after reviewing the lesson.

Here is what the lesson states. (There is no mention of these adverbs being placed at the beginning of the sentence):

"Adverbs of place and certain adverbs of time usually FOLLOW the past participle:

e.g. tard, tôt,... and some adverbs ending in -ment

Il est parti tard. He left late.

Elle a compris facilement.She understood easily."

May I suggest that you give some examples with them at the beginning of a sentence? It would be very helpful.

Accepted Answer

Hi Shamrockhill,
I looked back at Michael's query and to my answer to him.
I am assuming you are querying the same kwiz question -
What are the best ways to say? - She will talk to you later 
In fact both,

Elle te parlera plus tard
Plus tard, elle te parlera

should be accepted and if this is not the case, please use the Report an issue button to notify us.
 As Jim points out it does say that adverbs of time can be at the beginning or at the end of the sentence and 'plus tard' is one of those.
Hope this helps!

Answer

Hi Shamrockhill,I'm confused!!!"Certain adverbs of time and manner can both be AT THE END or be AT THE START of the sentence:" Just copied and pasted from the very lesson (with examples ) that you have quoted   --  so why the question??https://francais.lingolia.com/en/grammar/adverbs/placementThe above may also be of help.Bonne journée   Jim

Answer

Hi Cecile and Jim,Thank you for your responses. I appreciate your interest. The point I am trying to get across is that the lesson is not clear that the position of 'plus tard' can be at the beginning of a sentence. Here is what the lesson states:"Certain adverbs of time and manner can both be AT THE END or be AT THE START of the sentence: e.g. hier, aujourd'hui, avant-hier, après, autrefois,... (and some adverbs ending in -ment for emphasis)"You will notice that 'plus tard' is NOT included in this list. In fact, the lesson specifically states that 'tard' USUALLY goes at the end of the sentence. There are NO examples of ' tard' or 'plus tard' at the beginning of the sentence.In the test, the question was in the form of multiple answers offered of which, "one, some, or all" may be correct. Therefore, since I was not clear about the placement of 'plus tard'/'plus tot' at the beginning of the sentence, I did not choose that option, but chose the other clearly correct option:"Elle te parlera plus tard." My request is really quite simple. Please explain in the lesson that 'plus tard'/'plus tot', etc. can be at the beginning of the sentence as well and give some examples.

Answer

Hi Shamrockhill,
I have spoken to Aurélie and passed on your comments. She has agreed that the lesson needs some re-working and that she will prioritise this.
The problem comes from separating single adverbs with their comparatives- 
tard /tôt = always after the past participleplus tard/plus tôt  = can be either at the start of a sentence or after the past participle
P.S. We are short-staffed at the moment due to ill-health so please be patient

Answer

Bonjour Cecile,Merci pour votre reponse. I think lesson would be much improved by including your explanation and clarifying the issue of separating the single adverb from their comparatives:"tard /tôt" = always after the past participle  "plus tard/plus tôt"  = can be either at the start of a sentence or after the past participle"May I point out, however, that "tard /tôt" and "plus tard/plus tôt" can be placed not only after the past participle, but also after the conjugated verb of any tense."Je viendrai plus tard.""Jean se leve tôt le matin.""Nous sommes arrives tard le jour de votre mariage."Thank you for addressing this issue, and I hope everyone gets feels better soon.