Adverbs of Frequency for SLC/High School

Adverbs of Frequency

English Grammar Rules

We use some adverbs to describe how frequently we do an activity

These are called adverbs of frequency and include:

Frequency	Adverb of Frequency	Example Sentence
100%	always	I always go to bed before 10pm.
90%	usually	I usually have sandwich for breakfast.
80%	normally / generally	I normally go to the club.
70%	often* / frequently	I often go for a hike.
50%	sometimes	I sometimes go to the market.
30%	occasionally	I occasionally drink wine.
10%	seldom	I seldom read the book.
5%	hardly ever / rarely	I hardly ever drink beer.
0%	never	I never play baseball.

* Some people pronounce the 'T' in often but many others do not.

The Position of the Adverb in a Sentence

An adverb of frequency goes before a main verb (except with TO BE).

An adverb of frequency goes after the verb TO BE

When we use an auxiliary verb (have, will, must, might, could, would, etc.), the adverb is placed between the auxiliary and the main verb. This is also true for TO BE.

We can also use the following adverbs at the start of a sentence:

Usually, normally, often, frequently, sometimes, occasionally

• Occasionally, I like to eat Chinese food.

BUT we cannot use the following at the beginning of a sentence:

Always, seldom, rarely, hardly, ever, never.

We use hardly ever and never with positive, not negative verbs:

• She hardly ever comes to my parties.
• They never say 'thank you'.

We use ever in questions and negative statements:

• Have you ever been to Pokhara?
• I haven't ever been to Nepal. (The same as 'I have never been Nepal').

We can also use the following expressions when we want to be more specific about the frequency:

- every day - once a month - twice a year - four times a day - every other week