Does toujours mean always or still?

Both. Il mange toujours à midi counts occasions and means always; il mange toujours means he's still eating and describes one continuing action. Context does the disambiguating, and in the compound past the always reading dominates: il a toujours aimé ça.

What's the difference between pas toujours and toujours pas?

Pas toujours means not always and allows exceptions: ce n'est pas toujours facile. Toujours pas means still not and describes one expected event that hasn't happened: il n'est toujours pas arrivé. Only the order changes, and it changes everything.

How do you say forever in French?

Pour toujours in everyday speech: c'est fini pour toujours. À jamais is the literary equivalent and turns up in songs and poems. Toujours by itself never means forever, however tempting the resemblance is.

Where does toujours go in the sentence?

Directly after the conjugated verb: elle chante toujours. In compound tenses it goes between the auxiliary and the past participle: elle a toujours chanté. What it can't do is stand between the subject and the verb, which is where English puts always.

Should I use toujours or encore for still?

Either usually works. Toujours frames the situation as a settled state, encore as something that hasn't run out yet. The practical advantage of toujours is that it's unambiguous, since encore in the same slot can also be read as again.

French grammar · Beginner

Toujours in French: Always, Still, and the Word Order That Changes Everything

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

Toujours means both always and still. Always is the frequency reading — il arrive toujours en avance — and still is the continuity reading — elle travaille toujours ici. Word order settles the negatives: pas toujours means not always, while toujours pas means still not.

Il est toujours en retard, et il habite toujours à Nice.

He's always late, and he still lives in Nice.

What it is

Toujours is built from tous and jours, all days, and that literal sense of every single day survives in the meaning always. Over time it also came to describe a state that has not stopped, which is where still comes from. The two readings share a form, and the sentence around them decides which one you get.

Elle prend toujours le même train, et il est toujours en panne. — She always takes the same train, and it's still broken down.

How to spot it

Ask whether the sentence is counting occasions or measuring a stretch of time. Repeated events give you always; one continuing situation gives you still.

Je bois toujours du thé le matin. — I always drink tea in the morning. (frequency)
Tu es toujours fâché ? — Are you still angry ? (continuity)
Il n'est pas toujours d'accord. — He doesn't always agree.
Il n'est toujours pas d'accord. — He still doesn't agree.

Those last two differ only in word order, and they say almost opposite things. It's the single most useful thing to get right about toujours.

Toujours Quick Reference

Toujours and its close relatives

Expression	Meaning	Example
toujours	always	Il dit toujours oui. — He always says yes.
toujours	still	Elle dort toujours. — She's still asleep.
ne… pas toujours	not always	Ce n'est pas toujours facile. — It isn't always easy.
ne… toujours pas	still not	Il n'a toujours pas répondu. — He still hasn't replied.
pour toujours	forever	C'est fini pour toujours. — It's over for good.
comme toujours	as usual, as ever	En retard, comme toujours. — Late, as usual.
depuis toujours	always, since forever	Je le connais depuis toujours. — I've known him forever.

Common Toujours Examples in French

Toujours in both of its meanings, plus the phrases built on it:

Always: Every Occasion

Elle arrive toujours la première.: She always arrives first.
Il oublie toujours mon anniversaire.: He always forgets my birthday.
On mange toujours à huit heures.: We always eat at eight.
Les enfants ont toujours faim.: The children are always hungry.

In this sense toujours belongs to the frequency family alongside souvent, parfois, and rarement.

Still: Nothing Has Changed

Tu es toujours à Paris ?: Are you still in Paris ?
Le magasin est toujours fermé.: The shop is still closed.
Elle travaille toujours dans la même entreprise.: She still works at the same company.
Il pleut toujours dehors.: It's still raining outside.

Here toujours competes with encore, and either one usually works.

The Two Negatives

Le train n'est pas toujours à l'heure.: The train isn't always on time.
Le train n'est toujours pas là.: The train still isn't here.
Elle ne comprend pas toujours mes blagues.: She doesn't always get my jokes.
Elle ne comprend toujours pas ma blague.: She still doesn't get my joke.

Pas toujours allows exceptions. Toujours pas expresses impatience about one specific thing.

Fixed Phrases

Je t'aimerai pour toujours.: I'll love you forever.
Il râle, comme toujours.: He's grumbling, as usual.
Ils habitent ici depuis toujours.: They've lived here forever.
Tu peux toujours essayer.: You can always try.

Tu peux toujours essayer often carries a shrug: you can try, but don't get your hopes up.

How Toujours Behaves

Placement rules are straightforward, but one of them changes the meaning rather than just the rhythm.

It Follows the Conjugated Verb

In a simple tense, toujours comes straight after the verb: il chante toujours. It cannot go between the subject and the verb, which is exactly where English puts always.

Elle répond toujours poliment.

She always answers politely.

verb + toujours, never subject + toujours + verb.

It Splits Compound Tenses

With the passé composé, toujours slots between the auxiliary and the past participle, the same position pas and déjà take. In this position it almost always means always rather than still.

Il a toujours refusé de parler.

He's always refused to talk.

a toujours refusé.

Pas Toujours Denies the Frequency

When pas comes first, it is toujours that gets negated: you're denying that something happens every time. This leaves plenty of room for it to happen often.

Je ne suis pas toujours de bonne humeur.

I'm not always in a good mood.

pas toujours = not every time.

Toujours Pas Denies the Event

When toujours comes first, it modifies the negation itself: the thing still hasn't happened. This version is about one specific expected event, and it usually carries impatience.

Elle n'a toujours pas rappelé.

She still hasn't called back.

toujours pas = still hasn't.

Forever Is Pour Toujours

Toujours alone does not mean forever. To talk about an endless stretch of future time, French adds pour: pour toujours. The literary alternative is à jamais.

Ils sont partis pour toujours.

They've gone for good.

forever → pour toujours.

Common Mistakes with Toujours

Incorrect: Il toujours arrive en retard. — He always arrives late.

Correct: Il arrive toujours en retard. — He always arrives late.

French never puts an adverb between the subject and the conjugated verb. English does it constantly with always, which is why this order feels natural to learners.

Incorrect: Il n'a pas toujours répondu à mon message. — He still hasn't replied to my message.

Correct: Il n'a toujours pas répondu à mon message. — He still hasn't replied to my message.

One specific message can't be answered on some occasions and not others. Still not is toujours pas; pas toujours would mean he's an inconsistent replier in general.

Incorrect: Je t'aimerai toujours et toujours. — I'll love you forever.

Correct: Je t'aimerai pour toujours. — I'll love you forever.

Toujours on its own means always, not forever. The preposition pour is what turns it into a stretch of unending time.

Incorrect: Il a toujours cassé son verre. — He's broken his glass again.

Correct: Il a encore cassé son verre. — He's broken his glass again.

In a compound tense toujours reads as always, so this would claim he breaks a glass every single time. For one more instance you need encore.

The Word Order That Flips the Meaning

Pas toujours and toujours pas are the same two words in a different order, and they aren't variants of one another.

Pas toujours: sometimes yes, sometimes no

Pas negates toujours. You're rejecting the claim that something is invariable, not the thing itself.

Ce n'est pas toujours vrai.: That isn't always true.
Il ne gagne pas toujours.: He doesn't always win.
Je ne suis pas toujours d'accord avec elle.: I don't always agree with her.

A useful paraphrase is pas à chaque fois, not every time. If that fits, pas toujours is what you want.

Toujours pas: it hasn't happened yet, and I'm waiting

Toujours modifies the negation. The event was expected, it hasn't arrived, and the speaker has noticed.

Il n'a toujours pas payé.: He still hasn't paid.
Le colis n'est toujours pas arrivé.: The parcel still hasn't arrived.
Tu n'as toujours pas compris ?: You still haven't understood ?

The neutral version of the same idea is pas encore: le colis n'est pas encore arrivé, with no note of impatience.

Toujours est-il que

This set phrase means the fact remains that, and uses inversion because toujours has been fronted.

Toujours est-il qu'il a menti.: The fact remains that he lied.
Toujours est-il que le problème persiste.: The fact remains that the problem persists.

It belongs to careful speech and writing, and it usually follows a concession you've just made.

Toujours FAQs

Does toujours mean always or still?: Both. Il mange toujours à midi counts occasions and means always; il mange toujours means he's still eating and describes one continuing action. Context does the disambiguating, and in the compound past the always reading dominates: il a toujours aimé ça.
What's the difference between pas toujours and toujours pas?: Pas toujours means not always and allows exceptions: ce n'est pas toujours facile. Toujours pas means still not and describes one expected event that hasn't happened: il n'est toujours pas arrivé. Only the order changes, and it changes everything.
How do you say forever in French?: Pour toujours in everyday speech: c'est fini pour toujours. À jamais is the literary equivalent and turns up in songs and poems. Toujours by itself never means forever, however tempting the resemblance is.
Where does toujours go in the sentence?: Directly after the conjugated verb: elle chante toujours. In compound tenses it goes between the auxiliary and the past participle: elle a toujours chanté. What it can't do is stand between the subject and the verb, which is where English puts always.
Should I use toujours or encore for still?: Either usually works. Toujours frames the situation as a settled state, encore as something that hasn't run out yet. The practical advantage of toujours is that it's unambiguous, since encore in the same slot can also be read as again.