Adverbs of Frequency | 2 Types of Adverbs of Frequency with Useful Examples

Adverbs of Frequency! Learn what are adverbs of frequency, types of these adverbs and how to use them in English sentences with interesting examples and free ESL picture.

Contents

Adverbs of Frequency Definition

These Adverbs are used to show the duration or timing of the action that is happening/had happened/will happen. They also tell us how often and how long these actions would be.

There are two types: An adverb that describes definite frequency is one such as weekly/every week, daily/every day, or yearly/every year, etc. An adverb describing indefinite frequency doesn’t specify an exact time frame; examples are always, usually, sometimes, often, etc.

Types of Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of Definite Frequency

Adverbs of definite frequency occur at the beginning or the end of a sentence.

Let’s look at the following examples:

He likes to watch TV every day.

Here, the Adverb is every day and it is telling about the amount of time spent in doing the Verb, which is watch. The question in this sentence is: How often does he watch TV?

They meet every week.

The Adverb here is every week and it is telling the frequency and the Verb is meet. The sentence is telling us: How often do they meet?

Other examples:

The library is open every day.
Every day, some employees go out for lunch.
He visits his grandpapa every two weeks.
The moon waxes and wanes every month.
This medicine is to be taken hourly.

Adverbs of Indefinite Frequency

Adverbs of indefinite frequency occur in the middle of the sentence. Where exactly it is placed depends on the type of verbs in the sentence.

Position:

1. Subject + adverb + main verb

I often see her in the garden.
I rarely have time to read a magazine.

2. Subject + Auxiliary verb/ Helping verb + adverb + main verb

I have never seen her before.
We might never see each other again.

3. Subject + to be + adverb

I am seldom late for work.
Tom is never been able to admit to his mistakes.

Here is the list of adverbs of frequency with example sentences:

100%	Always	It’s always cold in this room.
90%	Usually	I usually get home about 6 o’clock.
80%	Normally/Generally	She doesn’t normally arrive until ten.
70%	Often/Frequently	I don’t often drink beer.
50%	Sometimes	I sometimes think I’m going mad.
30%	Occasionally	I see him occasionally in town.
10%	Seldom	I seldom read the newspaper.
5%	Hardly ever/Rarely	We hardly ever go to concerts.
0%	Never	We’ve never been to New York.