Grammar Reference

 

2.1 ■ Adverbs of frequency

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always   usually   normally   often    frequently   sometimes   not often   occasionally   rarely   never

Use

We use adverbs of frequency to describe how often we do something.
A: How often do you see your cousins?
B: I usually see them at weekends. I never see them during the week.

Word order

Adverbs of frequency usually come:

• before the main verb.
  My parents often make pizza on Friday nights.
  Rachel always has a shower in the morning.
  
• after the verb be.
  He is never late.
  They are usually at drama club on Wednesdays.

The following adverbs can also come at the beginning of the sentence:
usually, sometimes,
Usually I sit at this desk.
Sometimes we go swimming on Wednesday afternoons.

2.2 ■ can / can't for ability

Affirmative
I You He / She / It We They	can	play the piano.
Negative
I You He / She / It We They	can't   (= cannot)	ride a bicycle.
Questions and short answers
Can	I you he / she / it we they	speak Italian?	Yes, I can. No, she can’t.

Form

• To form the affirmative we use can + infinitive without to.
  NOTE: We do not add -s after can in the third person.
  He can jump.NOT He cans jump.
• To form the negative we use can't (= cannot) + infinitive without to.
  She can't hear you.
• To form questions we use Can + subject + infinitive without to.
  Can they swim?

Use

• We use can / can’t to talk about ability.
  I can ride a bicycle but I can’t ride a horse.
  Can Fred run fast?
  

2.3 ■ Adverbs of manner

Form

• We usually form adverbs of manner by adding -ly to the adjective.
  quiet→ quietly
  loud→ loudly
• Adjectives ending in -y: change -y to -ily.
  noisy→ noisily
  happy→ happily
• There are some common irregular forms.
  fast→ fast     good→ well
  hard→ hard   late→ late

Use

We use adverbs of manner to describe how someone does something.
He plays the piano well.
She speaks quietly.

Word order

Adverbs of manner usually come:

• after the main verb.
  She runs fast.
• after the object of the sentence, if there is one.
  I learn new languages quickly.
  Kylie plays the piano beautifully.

Modifiers

• We often use modifiers, for example: very, really, quite, a bit to give more information about adverbs of manner.
  My friends play football really well.
  He plays the guitar quite loudly.