Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of Frequency

Hello English learners! How often do you study English? Every day? Sometimes? Hardly ever? If you’ve ever tried to describe your daily habits or routines, then you’ve already used adverbs of frequency—words like always, usually, sometimes, and never.

These little words are handy because they help you talk about how often you do something. We use them every day to describe routines, habits, and repeated actions:

• I usually wake up at seven.
• She always drinks coffee in the morning.
• We never go out on weekdays.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use adverbs of frequency correctly, where to place them in a sentence, and how to avoid common mistakes. By the end, you’ll be able to talk about your everyday habits more naturally and confidently in English.

What are adverbs of frequency?

Adverbs of frequency are words that tell us how often something happens or how frequently we do something.

They help us describe habits, routines, and repeated actions—things we do every day, every week, or only once in a while.

In other words, they answer the question “How often?”

We use them to make our speech more precise and natural. Without them, sentences sound incomplete or too general. Compare:

❌ I go jogging.

✅ I usually go jogging on Saturdays.

See how much clearer the second one is? It tells us when and how often the activity happens.

Here are a few simple examples:

• I always have breakfast at home. (100% of the time)
• She often goes to the gym. (many times, but not every day)
• They sometimes eat out on weekends. (occasionally)
• He rarely watches TV. (almost never)
• We never watch horror movies. (0% of the time!)

Adverbs of frequency are especially useful when you’re talking about your daily routine, work habits, or free-time activities. They make your English sound much more natural—just like native speakers use in everyday conversations.

The main adverbs of frequency

Now that you know what adverbs of frequency are, let’s look at the most common ones in English.

These words indicate the frequency of an event, typically ranging from 100% (always) to 0% (never).

Think of them as a scale of frequency — from actions that happen all the time to those that never happen at all.

Here’s the list from most frequent to least frequent:

You can also visualise it like this:

Always → Usually → Often → Sometimes → Occasionally → Rarely → Hardly ever → Never

The further you move to the right, the less often something happens.

Tip for learners:

 Words like rarely, seldom, and hardly ever are all negative in meaning, so avoid using not with them.

❌ I don’t hardly ever go out.

✅ I hardly ever go out.

Using these adverbs correctly will make your English sound much more natural and help you describe your routines, habits, and experiences clearly.

Word order

Remember that adverbs of frequency go:

Before the main verb

• I always get up early.
• She usually walks to school.

After “to be”

• I’m often late.
• He’s never tired.

After auxiliary verbs

• I have never seen that film.
• She can sometimes be rude.

Common mistakes

❌ I go always to the gym.

✅ I always go to the gym.

❌ He is never go there.

✅ He never goes there.

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