French Phrase
Elle n'aide que quand tout va bien.
Meaning
She only offers help when everything is going smoothly. The sentence implies that she is reluctant to assist in difficult or problematic situations.
When to use
Use this phrase to comment on someone’s conditional generosity, especially when you want to point out that their assistance is limited to favorable circumstances.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Ellen'aidequequandtoutvabien
N'... que (only)
The construction n'… que means ‘only’. It restricts the verb to a specific condition, similar to English ‘only … when…’.
Aider (to help)
Aider is a regular -er verb. Here it is conjugated in the present tense, third‑person singular: elle aide.
Quand (when)
Quand introduces a temporal clause and is followed by the indicative mood because the condition is factual.
Tout (everything)
In this sentence tout is a pronoun meaning ‘everything’ and acts as the subject of the subordinate clause.
Aller (to go) – va
Va is the third‑person singular present of aller, used here idiomatically to mean ‘goes’ as in ‘things go well’.
Bien (well)
Bien modifies the verb phrase ‘va’ and means ‘well’ or ‘in a good way’.
🗨In Conversation
Elle n'aide que quand tout va bien.
She only helps when everything is going well.
C'est vrai, quand les choses se compliquent, elle disparaît.
That's true, when things get complicated she disappears.
✕Common Mistakes
Elle n'aide pas quand tout va bien.
Using ‘pas’ changes the meaning to a simple negation (she does not help) instead of the restrictive ‘only’.
Elle n'aide que si tout va bien.
‘Si’ introduces a conditional clause, which would imply uncertainty. The original sentence states a factual restriction.
Elle n'aide que quand va bien.
Leaving out ‘tout’ makes the sentence less precise; ‘tout’ emphasizes that *everything* must be fine.
↔Alternatives
Elle n'aide que si tout se passe bien.
She only helps if everything goes well.
Elle n'intervient que quand tout va bien.
She only intervenes when everything is fine.
Elle ne prête assistance que lorsque tout va bien.
She only lends assistance when everything is fine.
Cultural Tip
In French, the restrictive particle n'… que is often preferred over ‘seulement’ because it sounds more natural in spoken language. Note that the verb in the subordinate clause (va) stays in the indicative, not the subjunctive, because the condition is presented as a factual reality rather than a hypothetical one. Also, avoid placing a pause after ‘que’; the flow is continuous: n'aide que quand…