Frequency Adverbs

What Are Frequency Adverbs?

We use frequency adverbs to talk about how often we do something.We usually use the frequency adverbs with the simple present tense.

The frequency adverbs in English are always, usually, normally or generally,often,sometimes,seldom,rarely,never.

We use the adverb always when we do something all the time and we use the adverb never for the things we don't do at all.

Let's have a look at the chart below to see when we use the frequency adverbs.

Position of the Frequency Adverbs

Usually, we put the frequency adverb before the verb:

• Dorothy usually goes to the beach in summer.
• I always go to the gym on Sunday.
• We don’t usually eat in a restaurant.
• Do you always travel in summer?

However, we use frequency adverbs after the verb 'be'

• She is always late for school.
• He is usually shy with the girls.
• We are often in the library on Wednesday.

We can use the frequency adverbs, usually, normally and generally at the beginning of the sentence:

• Normally, I don’t drink tea.
• Usually, I swim after work.
• Generally, it rains a lot in London.

Using never with Frequency Adverbs

We use never only in positive sentences:

        I never play computer games. ✔

        I don’t never play computer games.  ✗

1. Home Page
 ›
2. Grammar Main Page
 ›
3. Frequency Adverbs