Adverbial phrases of time and frequency
These adverbs and phrases add information about time, duration and frequency.
- They can tell us when. These phrases usually come at the end of the sentence:
- She was born in 1980.
- We arrived in the UK last week.
- He left China ten days ago.
- They are getting married this month.
- She’s going to start university next year.
- I went to the cinema yesterday.
- They can tell us about duration:
- She has been studying maths for two years.
- We have known each other for six months.
- I have been working here since 2015.
- They have been in England since last September.
We often use ‘for’ and ‘since’ with the Present Perfect.
- I’ve been reading for two hours.
We can also use ‘for’ with other tenses:
- My uncle was in the army for thirty years.
We use:
| for + | two years |
| six months | |
| two weeks | |
| five minutes | |
| period of time |
| since + | 2015 |
| last September | |
| yesterday | |
| 10.00 | |
| point in time |
- They can tell us how often:
Adverbs of Frequency
As we saw in ‘Adverbs of frequency’ (the Beginner course), we use ‘always’, ‘usually’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, ‘hardly ever’ and ‘never‘ to say how often we do something.
Be careful with the word order:
With the verb ‘to be’:
- She is never late.
- You are always tired.
With all other verbs:
- I usually get up at 7.00am.
- He always plays football on Saturdays.
Every day
We can also use phrases such as:
every + day / week / month / year
- We have breakfast every day.
- She goes to the cinema every week.
On Sundays
- We have breakfast in a cafe on Sundays.
- She goes to the cinema on Tuesdays.
Once a week
- She goes to the cinema once a week.
- He goes to the gym twice (= two times) a week.
- They play football three times a week.
- We have English lessons five times a week.
| Note: All of these phrases usually come at the end of the sentence. |