5.4 Frequency adverbs




Adverbs of frequency go in mid-position. This means:



  • After am, is, are, was and were, e.g.:



    • They are often late.
    (Sovint arriben tard.)


  • With other verb forms they go before the main verb, e.g.:



    • We never go there.
    (No hi anem mai.)
    Do they ever go?
    (Hi van mai?)
    They have often asked.
    (Sovint han preguntat.)
    She can sometimes be very cruel.
    (Algunes vegades pot ser molt cruel.)
    He is always asking silly questions.
    (Sempre fa preguntes poca-soltes.)


    Other short adverbs (e.g. <also, barely, even, hardly, just, nearly, quite, soon, still) often go in mid-position:



    They can also sing very well.
    (També saben cantar molt bé.)
    Ken had even made two desserts.
    (En Ken havia fet fins i tot dues postres.)
    They didn't even apologise.
    (Ni tan sols van demanar disculpes.)
    The train is barely/hardly moving.
    (El tren gairebé no es mou.)
    I would just like to say a few words.
    (M'agradaria pronunciar només unes quantes paraules.)
    Sally is nearly eighteen.
    (La Sally està a punt de complir els divuit.)
    I quite like her new CD.
    (M'agrada bastant el seu nou CD.)
    They'll soon have finished.
    (Aviat hauran acabat.)
    We were still waiting at 5 o'clock.
    (Encara esperàvem a les 5.)


    Notice that even can also focus on the subject of the sentence, e.g.:



    Even my cousins came.
    (Fins i tot van venir els meus cosins.)