Part 10 Basic English – Essential Lessons for Beginning English Learners

Time expressions are used to indicate the time at/during which an action took place. Common time expressions include:

Present forms: everyday, on Fridays, at the moment, now, as well as adverbs of frequency such as always, usually, sometimes (for present habits and routines). Days of the weeks followed by ‘s’ such as Mondays, Tuesdays, etc.

Examples

• He sometimes finishes work early.
• Marjorie is listening to the radio at the moment.
• Peter goes jogging on Saturdays.

Past forms: when I was …, last week, day, year, etc., yesterday, ago (two weeks ago, three years ago, four months ago, etc.)

Examples

• He visited his friends last week.
• I didn’t see you two days ago.
• Jane flew to Boston yesterday.

Future forms: next week, year, etc., tomorrow, by (the end of the week, Thursday, next year, etc.) in X time (in two weeks time, in four months time, etc.)

Examples

• I’m going to attend a conference next week.
• It won’t snow tomorrow.
• They’re going to visit New York in two weeks.

Perfect forms: since, yet, already, just, for

Examples

• Michael has worked here since 1998.
• Have you finished reading the paper yet?
• He’s just gone to the bank.

Adverbs of Frequency – Rules for Use

Use adverbs of frequency to say how often you do something. Adverbs of frequency are often used with the present simple because they indicate repeated or routine activities. For example, They often go out for dinner.

Adverbs of frequency include (form most often to least often):

• always
• usually
• often
• sometimes
• occasionally
• seldom
• rarely
• never

If the sentence has one verb (e.g. no auxiliary verb) put the adverb in the middle of the sentence after the subject and before the verb.

Examples

• Tom usually goes to work by car.
• Janet never flies. She always goes by bus.

Adverbs of frequency come after the verb ‘be’:

Examples

• I am never late for work.
• Peter is often at school.

If the sentence has more than one verb (e.g. auxiliary verb), put the adverb of frequency before the main verb.

Examples

• I can never remember anything!
• They have often visited Rome.

When using adverbs of frequency in the question or negative form, put the adverb of frequency before the main verb.

Examples

• She doesn’t often visit Europe.
• Do you usually get up early?

Source:  thoughtco.com©