Below are some common adverbs that deal with how often something happens. They are organized from most often to least often:

Hard: Be careful with the adverb hardly. It is not the adverb of the adjective hard. Hardly means “very little, almost not/none”.

 

- Renee wasn’t friendly to me at the party. She hardly spoke to me.

(Renee spoke to me very little, almost not at all)

 

- Mary and Charles would like to get married but they’ve only known each other for a few months. I don’t know if they’re ready to get married, they hardly know each other.

(Mary and Charles know each other very little)

 

We often use hardly + any/anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere: 

 

- “How much money do you have?” “Hardly any.”

- I have to go to the grocery store. We have hardly any food.

- We all did very badly on the test. Hardly anybody in the class passed.

- He wasn’t very hungry so he ate hardly anything.

 

We often use can/could + hardly.

 

- You have very messy writing. I can hardly read it.

(It is almost impossible for me to read your writing)

 

- My foot was hurting very much yesterday. I could hardly walk.

(It was almost impossible for me to walk yesterday)

 

 When we say hardly ever, it means “almost never”.

-  I cook at home most nights. I hardly ever go out to restaurants.

 

When we use adverbs of frequency that have a negative sense, we must use positive sentences, so we cannot include “do not”.

 

- We don’t never smoke --->  is incorrect 

-  We never smoke. ---> is correct

 

Let’s practice!

 

Make a sentence with the adverbs in brackets. All of these adverbs describe the frequency of an event.

 

1. He is sad. (never)

_______________________________________

 

2. Billy drinks coffee in the morning. (usually)

 

_______________________________________

 

3. Alex arrives late to work. (hardly ever)

_______________________________________

 

4. Frank cooks dinner for Betty. (occasionally)

_______________________________________

 

5. You should eat vegetables. (often)

_______________________________________

 

6. Marnie walks to work. (never)

_______________________________________

 

7. My brother helps me with my homework. (sometimes)

_______________________________________

 

8. Everyone arrived for the party. (early)

_______________________________________

 

9. Vicky drinks alcohol. (rarely)

_______________________________________

 

10. I don’t eat breakfast. (normally)

_______________________________________

 

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