Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency communicate how often something happens or how often we do something.

Some adverbs of frequency are ‘sometimes’, ‘always’,‘never’, ‘rarely’, ‘occasionally’, ‘often’ and ‘usually’. If you were to draw a straight line you would position ‘always’ at one end and ‘never’ at the other, with all the other adverbs of frequency in a position on this line according to how often they occur/happen.

When positioning these adverbs they normally go after the first auxiliary verb.

“I have never seen a panda”

(sub)(auxiliary verb)(adverb of frequency)(verb)

If there is no auxiliary verb, the adverb of frequency normally goes directly before the verb.

He usually goes to his parents in Valencia every weekend.

(sub)(adverb of frequency)(verb)

Or maybe you want to talk about a habit that you do all the time, such as drink a coffee with your breakfast every morning you could say:-

“I always drink a coffee with my breakfast”

(sub)(adverb of frequency)(verb)

If a verb is negative then the adverb of frequency normally goes after the word “not”.

They don’t often socialize with other people.

(sub)(negative verb)(adverb of frequency)(verb)

D. Lindsay