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)
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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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