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Adverbs of Frequency

1 min
A2
CEFR A2·other

Formula

(always eat, never drink)
(am always late)

Examples

Positive
I always brush my teeth before bed.
Negative
She never eats fast food.
Question
Do you usually walk to work?

Common Time Markers

always
usually
often
sometimes
rarely
never

Usage

  • •Describing how often something happens
  • •Placed before the main verb but after "to be"
  • •Can be used with Present Simple to describe habits

More Examples

  • He is always late for meetings.

    "always" after "to be"

  • They rarely go to the cinema.

    "rarely" (almost never) before main verb

  • I sometimes have lunch at my desk.

    "sometimes" before main verb

  • Do you ever visit your grandparents?

    "ever" in questions

Common Mistakes

  • ✗Putting the adverb after the main verb: "I eat always breakfast" should be "I always eat breakfast".
  • ✗Using "never" with negative verbs creates a double negative: "I don't never eat meat" → "I never eat meat".

Tips

  • ✓Position rule: adverb goes BEFORE the main verb but AFTER "to be" and auxiliary verbs.
  • ✓Percentage guide: always (100%) → usually (80%) → often (60%) → sometimes (40%) → rarely (20%) → never (0%).

Advanced Notes

Position flexibility increases at higher levels: "sometimes" and "often" can move to the front or end of a sentence for emphasis ("Sometimes I just don't feel like it"), while "always" and "never" are almost always mid-sentence. "Ever" appears mainly in questions and conditionals ("if you ever need help..."), not in affirmatives. "Occasionally", "frequently", "constantly", and "habitually" are higher-register synonyms worth introducing once core adverbs are solid.

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Compare With

Present Simple(A1)