MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH

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  Put in Order
Frequency adverbs: position
Focus Grammar
Description Practise how to put adverbs of frequency in the right place inside the sentence.
Instructions Order these sentences so the adverb of frequency comes in the right position.
 
Items
several times a year / My car / breaks down
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
you / feel tired? / Do / often
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
often / eats / pizza / for dinner / Mike
 
You / your car keys / never / find / can
 
I / what to say / never / know
 
it / I / five times / saw
 
once a year / I / usually / to the dentist / go
 
Begin the sentence with YESTERDAY
Yesterday, / she / phoned / twice / me
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
is / John / late / often
 
oranges / I / hardly ever / eat
 
She / asking me questions / always / is
 
usually / to the hairdresser's / once a month / I / go
 
I / three times a week / to the gym / go
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
win / ? / Does / Kevin / always
 
every other day / We / have / soup
 
at home? / have lunch / usually / you / Do
 
Begin the sentence with SHE
when you talk to her / listens / rarely / She
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
to help me / very often / My parents / come
 
always / I / get up / at 8 a.m.
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
need / some help with the homework / They / usually
 
to the gym / you / go / Do / every day / ?
 
They / listen / can / never
 
rarely / if you need it / will / help you / Tom
 
every other day. / need / I travel a lot. I / some petrol
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
in blue / She / very often / dresses
 
almost never / go on holiday / My parents
 
have to go / I / shopping / day in, day out
 
to the disco? / often / go / you / do / How
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
always / dress / in green? / Can / I
 
in the mornings. / am / very tired / usually / Something is the matter with me. I
 
Total number of items: 30
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

These adverbs answer the question: How often?
Here is a list ordered from more to less frequency (percentages are approximative)

ALWAYS (100%)
FREQUENTLY (90%)
USUALLY (85%)      = generally, normally
OFTEN (75%)
SOMETIMES (50%)      = now and then
OCCASIONALLY (35%)
SELDOM (25%)
RARELY (10%)
HARDLY EVER (5%)
NEVER (0%)

Word order:

One-word adverbs

Before normal verbs (the rest)
- I OFTEN go to the cinema
- He RARELY watches television
After special verbs (to be, have, do, can, will, etc.)
- I am ALWAYS here
- you can NEVER speak fast o
exceptions:
- I HARDLY EVER watch football on TV
- Tim ALMOST NEVER eats pudding
Notice: Some of these can use VERY (with the same position).
- I VERY OFTEN eat potatoes
- We VERY RARELY go to the beach

Two words or more

At the end of the sentence
- I go to the cinema TWICE A MONTH
- He works in the mornings EVERY OTHER DAY (= every two days)
- He watches football DAY IN, DAY OUT (= every day, every single day)
- We go hiking SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR (= a few times every year)

How many times?
Once = x1
Twice = x2
Three times = x3
Four times, etc. = x4

These frequency phrases usually go at the end:
- You have to ring the bell twice
- I go to the cinema once a month
- Tim goes to school three times a week