Adverbs of Frequency: How to Use Them and Where They Go in a Sentence

Welcome to BBC Learning English.

I'm Sam and today we're going to look at

adverbs of frequency.

You know these!

Always, sometimes, never.

But where do they go in a sentence?

Look at 'always' in this sentence.

Does it come before or after the verb?

Helen always starts work at seven.

The verb is 'starts' and 'always' comes before

– rule number one.

Next sentence:

Helen isn't always happy about this.

The verb is 'is' and 'always' was after

– rule number two

Last sentence:

Helen has always hated early starts.

Trick question!

There was an auxiliary verb 'has' and a main verb 'hated'

and 'always' went after the auxiliary verb

– rule number three