San Jose City College

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I. Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency modify the whole sentence. They show a range of frequency and include words like always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, and never. Rules for placement of these adverbs are as follows:

     • After the subject and before the main verb
        Jack rarely studies for his math exams, but he always passes!
     • After the verb BE
        Jack is never on time for class. His instructor is usually annoyed by this.

     • After the first word in a verb phrase
        Jack has always gotten satisfactory grades.
        He could always have been at the top of his class if he had only worked a little harder.
  Analyze these sentences, keeping in mind the above rules for placement of adverbs of frequency. Is the position of the adverb correct or incorrect?
1. Children are often afraid of the dark.
           Correct           Incorrect
2. They like always to sleep with a light on.
           Correct           Incorrect
3. Parents turn off usually the light after their child falls asleep.
           Correct           Incorrect
4. Parents never should read scary stories to children before they go to bed.
           Correct           Incorrect
5. There are often scary sounds like sirens at night.
           Correct           Incorrect
6. Scary sounds like sirens often wake up a sleeping child.
           Correct           Incorrect
7. The frightened child may get back to sleep never.
           Correct           Incorrect
8. The frightened child frequently will wake up the parents during the night.
           Correct           Incorrect
9. The parents often are exhausted the following day.
           Correct           Incorrect
10. Some parents let often their children play until they fall asleep.
           Correct           Incorrect
11. This way, they can usually guarantee that they will get a good night’s sleep.
           Correct           Incorrect
12. And their children usually will sleep better as well.
           Correct           Incorrect
  These sentences from the table above were incorrect. Look over the scrambled words in the left column and type them in the correct order to complete the sentence on the right. (Or type a question mark and hit enter to see the correct sentence order.
2.  like  They  always     to sleep with the light on.
3. turn off   Parents   the     light   usually after their child falls asleep.
4. never   Parents   read   should scary stories to children before they go to bed.
7. get back   may   to sleep       never The frightened child .
8. the parents   wake up    frequently     will The frightened child .
9. are   parents   exhausted     often The the following day.
10. play   let   their    children         often Some parents until they fall asleep.
12. sleep   usually   will     their        children And better as well.

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