What does encore mean in French?

It depends on where it sits. After a verb it means still or again — il dort encore, il a encore oublié. In front of a noun it means more — encore du pain. Before a comparative it means even — encore plus grand. With ne… pas it means yet — pas encore.

What's the difference between encore and toujours?

Both can mean still, and in that sense they're usually interchangeable. Encore suggests a situation that is continuing for now; toujours suggests one that simply is. Only encore means more or again, and only toujours means always.

How do you say not yet in French?

Pas encore, wrapped in the usual negative: je n'ai pas encore décidé, I haven't decided yet. On its own, pas encore is a complete answer to a question: Tu as mangé ? — Pas encore.

Is encore the right word for again?

It works, but it usually carries a hint of frustration: tu es encore en retard sounds like a complaint. For a neutral again, use de nouveau or à nouveau: elle a de nouveau changé d'avis. Encore une fois is the neutral option when you're counting repetitions.

Why do English speakers shout encore at a concert?

Because encore ! is what a French audience calls out to ask for one more piece, using the sense of more. Curiously, French audiences today usually shout une autre ! or bis ! instead, so the English use of the word has outlived the French one.

French grammar · Beginner

Encore in French: Still, Again, More, and Not Yet

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Encore covers four English words: still (il travaille encore), again (encore une fois), more (encore du café), and, with a negative, yet (pas encore). All four come from the same idea of something continuing or being added to what's already there.

Il dort encore, mais il a encore oublié son réveil.

He's still asleep, and he's forgotten his alarm again.

What it is

Encore is one of those small French words whose translation depends entirely on what it sits next to. In front of a noun it adds quantity. After a verb it extends time. With a negative it means the expected thing hasn't happened. Before a comparative it intensifies. English needs four words; French uses one.

Tu veux encore du thé ? Il est encore chaud, et il est encore meilleur froid. — Do you want more tea ? It's still hot, and it's even better cold.

How to spot it

Look at what follows encore. A noun phrase means more. A comparative means even. Nothing at all, with the verb before it, means still or again. A ne… pas nearby means yet.

Il pleut encore. — It's still raining. / It's raining again.
Encore un peu de gâteau ? — A bit more cake ?
C'est encore pire. — It's even worse.
Je n'ai pas encore fini. — I haven't finished yet.

Il pleut encore is genuinely ambiguous between still and again. French speakers rely on context, and if they need to be clear they say il pleut toujours or il pleut de nouveau.

Encore Quick Reference

The jobs encore does

Meaning	Position	Example
still	after the verb	Elle habite encore ici. — She still lives here.
again	after the verb	Il a encore raté le train. — He missed the train again.
more	before a noun phrase	encore du pain — more bread
another	before un / une	encore une question — one more question
even	before a comparative	encore plus cher — even more expensive
not yet	with ne… pas	Ce n'est pas encore prêt. — It isn't ready yet.
although	encore que + subjunctive	Il viendra, encore qu'il soit fatigué.

Common Encore Examples in French

Encore in each of its senses:

Still: Something Continuing

Le magasin est encore ouvert.: The shop is still open.
Tu es encore là ?: Are you still here ?
Il reste encore trois places.: There are still three seats left.
J'ai encore mal à la tête.: I still have a headache.

Toujours works in all of these too, and often sounds slightly more settled: elle habite toujours ici.

Again: Something Repeating

Il a encore cassé son téléphone.: He's broken his phone again.
Tu es encore en retard.: You're late again.
Encore une fois, s'il te plaît.: One more time, please.
Elle m'a encore appelé ce matin.: She called me again this morning.

Used this way, encore usually carries a note of exasperation. For a neutral again, French prefers de nouveau or à nouveau.

More: Adding Quantity

Vous voulez encore du café ?: Would you like more coffee ?
Il me faut encore deux jours.: I need two more days.
Encore une question et j'arrête.: One more question and I'll stop.
Donne-m'en encore un peu.: Give me a bit more of it.

The article after encore stays exactly as it would without it: encore du pain, encore une bière, encore des frites.

Even: Intensifying a Comparison

Sa sœur est encore plus grande.: Her sister is even taller.
C'est encore mieux que je pensais.: It's even better than I thought.
Le deuxième film est encore moins bon.: The second film is even less good.
Il fait encore plus froid aujourd'hui.: It's even colder today.

In this slot encore is interchangeable with bien: bien plus grand, encore plus grand.

How Encore Sits in the Sentence

Position does most of the disambiguating, so it's worth knowing where encore lands in each structure.

After the Conjugated Verb for Still and Again

In a simple tense, encore follows the verb directly: il mange encore. Nothing comes between them, and moving encore to the front of the sentence would sound emphatic and unusual.

Elle travaille encore chez le même employeur.

She's still working for the same employer.

verb + encore.

Between Auxiliary and Participle in Compound Tenses

With the passé composé, encore goes in the same slot as pas and déjà, before the past participle. This is where it most often means again rather than still.

Il a encore perdu ses clés.

He's lost his keys again.

a encore perdu, not *a perdu encore.

Before the Noun Phrase for More

When encore adds quantity, it goes in front of the whole noun phrase, article included. It does not replace the article and it does not trigger de: encore du vin, not encore de vin.

Il reste encore de la place.

There's still some room left.

encore + article + noun.

Pas Encore Is a Unit

Not yet is ne… pas encore, with the two adverbs sitting together after the verb or between auxiliary and participle. Reversing them into encore pas is not a French sequence.

Je n'ai pas encore lu ton message.

I haven't read your message yet.

ne… pas encore = not yet.

Encore Alone Means One More Time

As a standalone exclamation, encore is what an audience shouts for another song, which is exactly the sense English borrowed. As a child's demand it means do it again.

Encore ! Encore !

More ! Again !

Encore ! = one more.

Common Mistakes with Encore

Incorrect: Je veux encore de café. — I want more coffee.

Correct: Je veux encore du café. — I want more coffee.

Encore is not a quantity expression like beaucoup, so it doesn't reduce the article to de. The partitive stays exactly as it was.

Incorrect: Il a fini encore son travail. — He finished his work again.

Correct: Il a encore fini son travail. — He finished his work again.

Short adverbs go between the auxiliary and the past participle in compound tenses. Encore behaves like déjà and pas here.

Incorrect: Je n'ai encore pas mangé. — I haven't eaten yet.

Correct: Je n'ai pas encore mangé. — I haven't eaten yet.

Pas encore is a fixed order meaning not yet. Reversing it produces something French speakers won't parse.

Incorrect: Tu veux plus de café ? — Do you want more coffee ?

Correct: Tu veux encore du café ? — Do you want more coffee ?

Plus de sounds like the negative ne… plus de once the ne is dropped in speech, so your guest hears no more coffee. Encore du is the unambiguous way to offer a second helping.

Encore in Set Phrases

A handful of encore expressions can't be worked out from the individual words, and two of them are common enough to be worth learning as blocks.

Et encore

Tacked onto the end of a statement, et encore means and even that's generous, undercutting what you just said.

Il y avait vingt personnes, et encore.: There were twenty people, and even that's being kind.
Ça coûte cent euros, et encore, en soldes.: It costs a hundred euros, and that's in the sale.

This is a conversational move rather than a grammatical structure, and it's very frequent in speech.

Encore que

Encore que means although and takes the subjunctive. It usually introduces a second thought at the end of a sentence.

Il a raison, encore qu'il exagère un peu.: He's right, although he's exaggerating a little.
C'est une bonne idée, encore que ce soit risqué.: It's a good idea, though it is risky.

Bien que is the everyday equivalent; encore que sounds more considered and slightly more literary.

Encore heureux and encore faut-il

Two idioms use encore to express relief or a caveat.

Encore heureux qu'il n'ait rien cassé !: Thank goodness he didn't break anything !
Encore faut-il le prouver.: It still has to be proved, though.
Il veut aider, encore faut-il qu'il sache comment.: He wants to help, but he needs to know how.

Encore faut-il uses inversion because encore has been fronted, which is a general rule for sentence-initial adverbs of this kind.

Encore FAQs

What does encore mean in French?: It depends on where it sits. After a verb it means still or again — il dort encore, il a encore oublié. In front of a noun it means more — encore du pain. Before a comparative it means even — encore plus grand. With ne… pas it means yet — pas encore.
What's the difference between encore and toujours?: Both can mean still, and in that sense they're usually interchangeable. Encore suggests a situation that is continuing for now; toujours suggests one that simply is. Only encore means more or again, and only toujours means always.
How do you say not yet in French?: Pas encore, wrapped in the usual negative: je n'ai pas encore décidé, I haven't decided yet. On its own, pas encore is a complete answer to a question: Tu as mangé ? — Pas encore.
Is encore the right word for again?: It works, but it usually carries a hint of frustration: tu es encore en retard sounds like a complaint. For a neutral again, use de nouveau or à nouveau: elle a de nouveau changé d'avis. Encore une fois is the neutral option when you're counting repetitions.
Why do English speakers shout encore at a concert?: Because encore ! is what a French audience calls out to ask for one more piece, using the sense of more. Curiously, French audiences today usually shout une autre ! or bis ! instead, so the English use of the word has outlived the French one.