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.
    (A menudo llegan tarde.)


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



    • We never go there.
    (No vamos nunca.)
    Do they ever go?
    (¿No van nunca?)
    They have often asked.
    (A menudo han preguntado.)
    She can sometimes be very cruel.
    (Algunas veces puede ser muy cruel.)
    He is always asking silly questions.
    (Siempre hace preguntas desvergonzadas.)


    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.
    (También saben cantar muy bien.)
    Ken had even made two desserts.
    (Ken incluso había hecho dos postres.)
    They didn't even apologise.
    (Ni siquiera pidieron disculpas.)
    The train is barely/hardly moving.
    (El tren casi no se mueve.)
    I would just like to say a few words.
    (Me gustaría pronunciar sólo unas palabras.)
    Sally is nearly eighteen.
    (Sally está a punto de cumplir los 18.)
    I quite like her new CD.
    (Me gusta bastante su nuevo CD.)
    They'll soon have finished.
    (Pronto habrán acabado.)
    We were still waiting at 5 o'clock.
    (A las 5 aún esperábamos.)


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



    Even my cousins came.
    (Incluso vinieron mis primos.)