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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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