3 2 Adverbs:frequency and degree

Frequency (= how often)

seldom(f*1.)
always frequently sometimes occasionally hardly.u., never
lt?j"jlL" I
rarery

Note:
. Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb with the exception of the verb 'to be':
I occasionally see them. They hardly ever go to the cinema now.
She is often late these days. I've never tried Korean food.
o Sometimes, occasionally and often can go at the beginning or end of the sentence:
They go to the zoo quite often. I play tennis occasionally.
Sometimesmy parents give me money. Occasionally I work at the weekend.

Degree (= how much)

positiue OK negatiue

extremely very rather fairly slightly fairly rather very extremely

incredibly pretty quite a bit quite prerry incredibly

Note:
. Rather is more formal than the other words and often describes a negative situation:
.We
had rather bad weather. The food was rather expensive.
For a positive situation, rather often indicates that something is bener than we expected:
Her cooking is rather good actually. (I didn't expect that, so it was a very nice surprise.
Incredibly, pretty and a bit are informal and mostly used in spoken English; a bit is
mostly used before negative adjectives(not positive ones) or adiectiveswith a negative
prefix.
The food was pretty good. (= nearly'very' good) That Ferrari is incrediblyexpensive.
The hotel was a bit disappointing, actually. I thought shelooked a bit unhappy.

Almost/nearly
ji$l{iiil:+*ii"rr"iii
ffiliHtfj#Fi
It's almost/nearly five o'clock. (= it is probably about 4.57)
I almost/nearly lost the match. (= I won but only just; only by a small amount)
Note: almost the same Nor quite+he*ame

Hardly
Hardly + a positive often has the same meaning as almost + a negadve:
I hardly had anything to eat for lunch. (= I had almost nothing)
She could hardly walk after her operation. (= she almost couldn't walk)
Note: In the above sentencesyou can also use barely with the same meaning.

68 EnglishVocobuloryin Use (pre-intermediote& intermediote)

 Exercises
12. I Organise these mixed up words into correct sentences.
1 brother often us Sunday visits on my
2 me ever phones she hardly
3 have l.g my broken never I
4 visit saw I hardly his him during
5 get occasionally I early up
6 always she Monday on early is work for a

,2.2 Replace the underlined adverb with a different adverb that has the same meaning.
1 She seldom goes to conferences now.
2 I can barely remember the first house we lived in.
3 There were almost fifty people there, you know.
4 I thought it was a bit disappointing, didn't you?
5 I'm afraid I'm extremely b*y next week.

31.3 Respond to these sentencesusing'rather'to show surprise. (You can also add'actually'at the
end of the sentence.)
'Was
1 e: it a boring evening?
B: No, it ... .
'Were
2 A: the children very noisy?
B: No, they .
3 A: I've heard it's a very dirty town. Is that true?
B: No, it ....
'Was
4 A: the weather awful?
B: No, it .....

?2.1h Change the underlined adverbs to make the first two sentencesslightly more positive, and the
last three sentencesslightly less negative.
1 I thought they were very good.
2 He's been getting quite good marks in his exams.
3 John said the flat was very small.
4 They said it was fairl)' boring.
5 The clothes were very expensive.

12.5 Put a frequency adverb into each of these sentencesto make a true sentenceabout yourself.
Make sure you put the adverb in the correct place. Compare your answers with someone else
if possible.
1 I buy clothes I don't like.
2 I clean my shoes.
3 I remember my dreams.
4 I give money to people in the street if they ask me for money.
5 I speak to strangerson busesand trains.
6 I'm rude to people who are rude to me.
Now think about each of your answers to the above sentences.Do you think they are:
a) very typical? b) fairly typical? c) slightly unusual? d) extremely unusual?
If you compared your answers with someone else, how would you describe their answers?

in Use (pre-intermediote& intermediote)

EnglishVocabulory 69