In the sentence
Elle a tout fait
Why is "tout" between "a" and "fait"?
Can't it be
Elle a fait tout
If you want to say "they all have done everything" would you say:
Elles ont tous tout fait
Or
Elles ont tous fait tout
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2First of all if you use "Elles" as a subject the sentence would be "Elles ont toutes tout fait" and not "Elles ont tous tout fait". ;) – Ctouw Jun 22 '16 at 9:07
Tout clarifies the meaning of a verb, an adverb or a noun.
In the case tout is clarifying a verb or an adverb, it is an adverb and is invariant.
In the case tout is clarifying a noun, it is an adjective and has to be made agree with the noun :
- tout masculine sing.
- tous masculine plur.
- toute feminine sing.
- toutes feminine plur.
As an adverb specifying an adverb
Tout has to precede the word he specifies :
Elle fait tout simplement ...
Elle a tout simplement fait
Here to specifies the adverb simplement
As an adverb specifying a verb
Tout has to follow the verb In the case of a compound tense, tout has to follow the conjugated part
Elle fait tout.
Elle a tout fait
In both cases, tout specifies the verb faire
As an adjective
Tout has to precede the determiner :
Tous les jours
Tout le nouveau quartier
Toutes les nouvelles fleurs
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You should precise that "Elle fait tout simplement" (in the first case you're explaining) doesn't mean "She does everything simply" in that specific example, but "She quite simply does [something]". Otherwise it would be the second case, an adverb specifying a verb. And I disagree with the fact that "tout" HAS to follow the verb or the conjugated part (this is the OP question): "Elle a fait tout ce qu'on attendait d'elle". It's the second case, an averb specifying a verb, am I right? – Destal Jun 22 '16 at 21:23
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You are alright on the first part, i should have writen this somewhere, that it is an ambiguous case, and the adverb has here some kind of precedence over the verb. But i don't on the last part : tout does not specify the verb, let's go further : "Elle a fait tout ce qu'on attendait d'elle" Tout precise the object "ce" described by the subordinate "qu'on attendait d'elle". "Elle a fait tout ce qu'on attendait d'elle" "Elle a donc fait tous ses devoirs" – Charly Jun 23 '16 at 7:36
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In "Elle tout fait" and "Elle a tout fait", "tout" is an indefinite pronoun, not an adverb. "faire" is a transitive adverb and requires a direct object; in this case, "tout". One can easily confirm that by replacing "tout" will a real adverb (eg. bien) and noticing that the sentence remains incomplete: "Elle bien fait". She does what? Anyway, "tout" indeed behaves like an adverb with regard to its position in the sentence when it is an indefinite pronoun. – Alan Evangelista Aug 2 '19 at 14:45
"Elle a fait tout" sure sounds strange, but I wouldn't assure it is wrong. I wouldn't say it this way in most cases but that could happen sometimes, especially at speaking. When you put something behind "tout", it becomes mandatory to put "tout" at the end: "Elle a fait tout son possible" (= "She did everything she could").
About "they all have done everything", there is a mistake: "tous" must be "toutes" since it refers to "elles". So like I said, it's mostly "Elles ont toutes tout fait", but I couldn't tell if "Elles ont toutes fait tout" is really wrong.
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Elle a fait* si c'est au passé (mais c'est un détail). Le mieux est de dire "Elle a tout fait" si il veut concerner la même structure. Dire "they all have done everything" est étrange. Je dirais plutôt "Ensemble, elles ont tout fait" qui semble plus correcte. A moins que l'on veuille exprimer un ensemble de tâches effectué individuellement par toutes, et là on dira "Elle ont toutes tout fait". L'usage du verbe faire n'est pas le plus approprié de mon point de vue. On lui préférera compléter. – Gautier C Jun 22 '16 at 9:27
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@GautierC Difficile de dire que fait n'est pas approprié sans savoir de quoi il s'agit. En tout état de cause, compléter a un sens beaucoup plus restreint que fait et c'est aussi un faux ami de to complete = terminer/finir/réaliser. – jlliagre Jun 22 '16 at 11:10
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@jlliagre pas faux. C'est vrai que faire est un verbe passe-partout. Exact aussi concernant compléter. – Gautier C Jun 22 '16 at 11:42
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@GautierC Merci j'ai corrigé l'oubli de l'auxiliaire dans un des exemples. – Destal Jun 22 '16 at 21:25
