15/3/2017 AdverbsofFrequency|EnglishClub

AdverbsofFrequencyEnglishClub.com
AdverbsofFrequencyareadverbsoftimethatanswerthequestion"Howfrequently?"or
"Howoften?".Theytellushowoftensomethinghappens.Herearesomeexamples:

a.daily,weekly,yearly
b.often,sometimes,rarely

Youprobablyseeadifferencebetweena)andb)above.Withwordslikedailyweknow
exactlyhowoften.Thewordsina)describedefinitefrequency.Ontheotherhand,words
likeoftengiveusanideaaboutfrequencybuttheydon'ttellusexactly.Thewordsinb)
describeindefinitefrequency.

Weseparatethemintotwogroupsbecausetheynormallygoindifferentpositionsinthe
sentence.

AdverbsofDefiniteFrequency
Examples:

hourly,daily,weekly,monthly,yearly
everysecond,onceaminute,twiceayear
once,twice,onceortwice,threetimes

Adverbsofdefinitefrequency,likealladverbsofdefinitetime,typicallygoinENDposition.
Lookattheseexamples:

Mostcompaniespaytaxesyearly.
Themanagerchecksthetoiletseveryhour.
Thedirectorsmeetweeklytoreviewprogress.

Sometimes,usuallyforreasonsofemphasisorstyle,someadverbsofdefinitefrequency
maygoattheFRONT,forexample:

Everyday,morethanfivethousandpeopledieonourroads.

AdverbsofIndefiniteFrequency
Lookattheseexamplesofadverbsofindefinitefrequency:

100% always,constantly
usually,normally
frequently,regularly
often
50% sometimes
occasionally
rarely,infrequently
seldom
hardlyever
0% never

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15/3/2017 AdverbsofFrequency|EnglishClub

AdverbsofindefinitefrequencymainlygoinMIDpositioninthesentence.Theygobefore
themainverb(exceptthemainverb"tobe"):

WeusuallygoshoppingonSaturday.
Ihaveoftendonethat.
Sheisalwayslate.

Occasionally,sometimes,often,frequentlyandusuallycanalsogoatthebeginningorendof
asentence:

Sometimestheycomeandstaywithus.
Iplaytennisoccasionally.

Rarelyandseldomcanalsogoattheendofasentence(oftenwith"very"):

Weseethemrarely.
Johneatsmeatveryseldom.

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