- Indefinite frequency
- Definite frequency
What is an adverb of time ?
Definition : an adverb of time modifies a verb and tells us when it happens. It can also tell us ‘how often’ and ‘for how long’ an action takes place.
Adverbs of time are quite common to find in sentences.
Adverbs of time (WHEN)
Here is the list of adverbs of time that modify a verb and tell us ‘when’ an action takes place:
- Today
- Tomorrow
- Later
- Now
- Then
- Last night
- That day/month/year
- Next week/month/year
- Tonight
These adverbs of time tell us ‘a certain point in time’ when an action takes place.
- I’ll finish the assignment today .
- Sam is coming to my place tomorrow .
- Last night , we celebrated his birthday and danced the entire night.
- I will call you later .
- They are playing chess now/right now.
- He wasn’t feeling well that day.
- Rosia is getting married next month.
- Are you doing anything tonight ?
Adverbs of time (HOW OFTEN)
Here’s the list of adverbs of time that modify a verb and tell us ‘how often’ an action takes place, took place, or will take place:
Indefinite frequency
- Always
- Daily
- Usually
- Frequently/often
- Sometimes
- Occasionally
- Rarely
- Seldom
- Hardly ever
- Never
- Generally
- Normally
Definite frequency
- Hourly
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Yearly
- Quarterly
- Fortnightly
- Regularly
These adverbs of time modify a verb and tell us how frequently an action takes place. They are called adverbs of frequency.
- I always meditate before having breakfast.
- We daily play cricket.
- My friend Moxey usually has dinner at my place.
- They often come here and drink.
- My friends sometimes play pranks on me.
- Monu and I go on random trips occasionally .
- My school friends rarely call me.
- I seldom draw cartoons.
- You should never play with snakes.
- I generally don’t teach high school students, but I’m down this time.
- Max comes to see us regularly .
- He gets paid hourly .
- The group meets weekly at the park.
- The company pays us monthly .
- The reports are evaluated quarterly .
- We’ll call the kids and check on them fortnightly .
- We have been working out regularly .
Adverbs of time (for how long)
Here’s a list of adverbs of time that modify a verb and tell us ‘for how long’ an action takes or took place:
- For 3 days
- For all night/all night
- For all-day
- For 20 minutes
- For some time (indefinite time period)
- For some days/weeks/months/years (indefinite time period)
- Since last night
- Since last year
- Since 2010
- Since the beginning of the year
- I haven’t been sleeping for 3 days.
- We have been working out all night.
- She had been waiting for 20 minutes when you arrived there.
- We have been working here for some time.
- We have known each other since our childhood.
- Sam has lived here since 1996.
- They have been facing legal troubles since the beginning of the year.
Adverbs of time (sequences and others)
Here’s a list of adverbs of time that modify a verb but don’t refer to a specific time:
- Earlier
- Before
- Early
- Already
- Eventually
- Finally
- Later
- Lately
- Yet
- Recently
- Just
- Next
- Soon
- Still
- He had come to see me earlier too.
- We will have to get this project done before the deadline.
- She went to bed early .
- The cab arrived earlier than the expected time.
- The fight has been booked already .
- Have you seen us before ?
- If you keep working hard, you will achieve your goals eventually .
- Finally , they approved my project.
- I will talk to him later .
- We have had a lot of fights lately .
- The food has not been cooked yet .
- The shop has been moved to a different location recently .
- I recently visited his hotel.
- We just finished the food.
- He just left for the office.
- The last episode of the series will be aired next .
- Let’s meet soon .
- The match is starting soon .
- It is still raining.
- We are still waiting for the bus.
Adverb phrases of time
Here are some adverb phrases of time:
- In some time
- Before the match
- After the meeting
- While playing
- Once a week
- Twice a day
- Thrice a month
- On Monday mornings
- Every day
- Every month
- All the time
- In the summer
- The day after tomorrow
- The day before yesterday
- Very soon
- Very late
- During the winter
- In 1999
- In 30 minutes
- The event is starting in some time .
- We can finish it before the match.
- I will call you after the meeting.
- He broke his left hand while playing football.
- Julie checks on her mother once a week.
- My father still does yoga twice a day.
- We all feel blue on Monday mornings.
- Archit makes a new friend every month.
- My friends prank me all the time.
- I don’t feel like moving out of my house in the summer because of the heat.
- The store will be closed the day after tomorrow.
- Jon saw a movie actor the day before yesterday.
- We will open up the store very soon.
- He got up very late.
- Children love coming here and playing cricket during the winner.
- Adam started the business in 1999.
- The food will be delivered in 30 minutes.
Adverb clauses of time
Adverb clauses of time are dependent clauses that modify a verb in terms of time. They start with the following subordinating conjunctions: when, after, before, as soon as, until, the moment, while, since, etc.
- I will call you back as soon as the meeting gets over.
- Nancy got angry and left the party when Jon started talking about her obesity.
- Let’s join the classes before the seats are full.
- We started jumping with joy as soon as he hit the winning six.
- Don’t move out of the place until we come back.
- We all got panicked the moment the tiger came out of the cage.
A list of all adverbs of time
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