Adverbs of Frequency JSS3 English Studies Lesson Note

Grammar: Adverbs of Frequency

What are adverbs of frequency?

Adverbs that change or qualify the meaning of a sentence by telling us how often or how frequently something happens are defined as adverbs of frequency.

An adverb of frequency is exactly what it sounds like – an adverb of time. Adverbs of frequency always describe how often something occurs, either in definite or indefinite terms.

An adverb that describes definite frequency is one such as weekly, daily, or yearly. An adverb describing indefinite frequency doesn’t specify an exact time frame; examples are sometimes, often, and rarely.

Adverbs of Frequency Rules

These simple rules for adverbs of frequency will help you to use them correctly: Always use adverbs of frequency to discuss how often something happens. Adverbs of frequency are often used to indicate routine or repeated activities, so they are often used with the present simple tense.

If a sentence has only one verb, place the adverb of frequency in the middle of the sentence so that it is positioned after the subject but before the verb.

Example: Tom never flies. He always takes the bus.

When a sentence contains more than one verb, place the adverb of frequency before the main verb. For example:

They have often visited Europe.

When using an adverb of frequency in the negative or in forming a question, place it before the main verb.

Examples: Do you usually get up so late?

Examples of Adverbs of Frequency

Each sentence contains an example of an adverb of frequency; the examples are italicized for easy identification.

1. The incubator turns each egg hourly.
2. We take a vacation at least once annually.
3. I usually shop for groceries on Saturday mornings.
4. He is often late for work.
5. We seldom see John.
6. My dentist told me I should floss twice daily.

Evaluation

Adverbs of Frequency Exercises

Understanding how adverbs of frequency work. Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

1. I ________________ late on Saturdays.
2. Get up usually
3. Get usually up
4. Usually get up
5. Jared ______________ late for work.
6. Never is
7. Is never
8. _______________ on weekends?
9. Often do you travel
10. Do you often travel
11. Often you travel
12. Susan ________________ early for class.
13. Often is
14. Are often
15. Often are
16. Is often
17. When do you ____________ go on vacation each year?
18. Always
19. Never
20. Usually
21. Ever

Speech Work: Stress and Intonation

Content:

Stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. In English, stressed syllables are louder than non-stressed syllables. Also, they are longer and have a higher pitch. English is a stress-timed language. That means that stressed syllables appear at a roughly steady tempo, whereas non-stressed syllables are shortened. Look at the examples of stress in words. The stressed syllables are represented by bold writing.

holiday, alone, admiration, confidential, degree, weak er, nervous, parents

In spoken language, grammatical words (auxiliary verbs, prepositions, pronouns, articles, …) usually do not receive any stress. Lexical words, however, (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, …) must have at least one stressed syllable. There is no rule, however, about which syllable is stressed in a word with more than one syllable. You will need to learn the stress of words by heart.

Tip: You can look up the word in a dictionary that provides an IPA transcript. The symbol ‘ in front of a syllable indicates that the following syllable is stressed. Look at some examples of IPA transcripts:

[ˈɡɑːdən] Garden the first syllable is stressed: GAR den

[ˈmɛdəʊ] Meadow the first syllable is stressed: MEA dow

[ˈmʌʃˌrum] mushroom the first syllable is stressed: MUSH room

[θərˈməˌmitɚ] thermometer the second syllable is stressed: thermo METER

[juː’mɪdɪ.ti] humidity the second syllable is stressed: hu MI dity

Practise the pronunciation of the words above. Speak them out loud several times.

In the English language, there is one phenomenon concerning stress that you can observe:

Many verbs consist of two syllables. Mostly, the stress is on the second syllable.

Due to historical developments, the same word has become a noun. The noun, however, is stressed differently: the stress is on the first syllable. Look at the examples:

to record a REcord

to perMIT a PER mit

to adDRESS an ADdress

to exPORT an EXport

to transPORT a TRANSport

to transFER a TRANSfer

INTONATION

The entire variation of pitch while speaking is called intonation. A very obvious difference in intonation can be observed when looking at statements and questions. Take for example American English: When someone utters an echo or asks declarative questions (like He found it on the street? ), the intonation (i.e. the voice) rises to a higher pitch at the end. When someone asks a wh-question (like Where did he find it? ) or utters a statement (like He found it on the street. ), the intonation (i.e. the voice) falls to a lower pitch at the end. Yes or no questions ( Did he find it on the street? ) often have a rising end, but not always. Intonation also deals with the stress of words. Words are stressed to make a certain emphasis. A sentence can be spoken differently, depending on the speaker’s intention. Look at the following sentences. Speak them out loud and especially stress the word that is in bold writing. Then think about how the meaning of the utterance changes.

I did not read anything about the disaster.

I did not read anything about the disaster.

I did not read anything about the disaster.

I did not read anything about the disaster.

I did not read anything about the disaster.

I did not read anything about the disaster.