Frequency

Here are some ways to say how often you do something.


always
often / frequently
usually / generally
sometimes / occasionally
hardly ever / rarely
never

For example, "I always drink coffee in the morning" means I drink coffee every morning.

Be careful of the pronunciation of "rarely". The "are" part of the word is spoken like the word air. The word has two syllables – 'rare' and 'ly'.

Putting these expressions into a sentence

These words go before the main verb.

"She often goes to the beach in summer."

They go after the verb 'to be'.

"He is occasionally late for meetings."

They go after 'modal' or 'auxiliary' verbs.

"It can sometimes get cold in the UK."

"I have never been to the USA."

'From time to time' is an expression that means the same as 'sometimes'. It normally goes at the end of a sentence.

For example, "I go to restaurants from time to time."

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16 comments on “Frequency”

Amir Soomro

Can we use the frequency word "always" at the end of the sentence?
e.g. I drink coffee in the morning always.

No. Put it before the verb "drink":
I always drink coffee in the morning.

azade

which is correct:
"Take how ever much milk you need"
"Take how much ever milk you need"
I just want to make sure about the place of "ever" with "How much" or "How many"

I'd probably say "take as much milk as you need".

Osama, Saudi Arabia

I hoped if the web-site gave the meanings and usings of each of:
always
often / frequently
usually / generally
sometimes / occasionally
hardly ever / rarely
never
who is smart to do that & give us the meanings.

hemraj

hi, this is really a very helpful site. i everyday visit this site and now my most of the colleagues are also taking the benifits of this site.

akram arif

please check it my sentences and tell me if i make any mistake.

I really don't believe him.
He literally wrecked his mother's car.
She simply ignored me

The teacher completely rejected her proposal.
I absolutely refuse to attend any more faculty meetings.
They heartily endorsed the new restaurant

His mother mildly disapproved his actions.
We can improve on this to some extent.
The boss almost quit after that.

Clare

They're fine except sentence 7 which should be "disapproved of".

leyla

OSAMA
she is always late at the work.
always= %100 she is late
often/frequently = %80
usually/generally= %50
sometimes/occasionally=%40
hardly ever / rarely=%20
never=% 0

Neetu

Hi Claire,

When we use 'always' with he or she do we use 's' with the verb.

for example -

He always does this.
She always wears such kind of clothes.

Clare

Yes, because with third person singular (he, she, it) you need s on the verb.

jean

Just want to know what's the difference between the two:
sometime and sometimes

Thanks a lot

Clare

Sometimes – frequency:
I sometimes go to the theatre.

Some time – referring to the future
I'd like to go to New York some time.

samia

when can I put ever and never in the sentence give me examples please

Clare

Ever is used in questions, and never in statements:

Have you ever been to New York?
No, I've never been there.

Johnny Parkinson

That's great. I like frequency adverbs or adverbs of frequency call it as you wish !!@ They're so amazing to learn and repeat especially for beginners and I just liked them when I had studied them at school @@ Thank you so much !! Amazing right ??

shihengyang

this is well, I like it ! thangk you all! I mean I can learn something here! terrific!

mohamed elwardi-morocco

i would like to say that "frequency adverbs" are usually used when we talk about our "daily activities" or "habitual actions"
thank you

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