Adverbs of frequency: The Grammar Gameshow Episode 2

Hello, and welcome to today’s Grammar Gameshow!

I’m your host, Will!

But, I’m no instant decision!

And of course let’s not forget Leslie,

our all-knowing voice in the sky

Hello everyone!

Tonight we’re going to ask you three questions about…

Adverbs of frequency

Yes, those short words like always and sometimes

that tell us how often people do things

OK! Now, let’s meet our contestants!

Hi, everyone. I’m Mike!

Contestant number 2?

Hi, Will. My name’s Sarah!

Welcome back, Sarah!

OK! Let’s get going

And don’t forget you can play along at home too

Our first question is a sorting question

Listen to these sentences

and put them in the correct order

from most often to least often

Here we go:

a) I always ride my bike to school

b) He never sleeps before nine

c) She sometimes misses breakfast

d) You often go on holiday

e) It rarely rains here

A, D, C, E, B

Always, often, sometimes, rarely, never

Leslie?

Well done!

As you said, from most often to least often:

I always ride...

You often go...

She sometimes misses...

It rarely rains...

He never sleeps...

Good job, Mike.

You know sometimes a contestant will come along and

really dazzle me with their intelligence and knowledge

Not today

One point for you

Question two

What must you remember

about the form of the main verb

when using adverbs

‘never’ and ‘rarely’?

The verb must be positive not negative

Leslie?

Superb!

Never and rarely must take a positive verb

I never study. I rarely go

Good job Mike. Have 16 and a half points

You don’t never need to worry with an answer like that

Yeah….

Wait, what?

Now for our final question

Look at this sentence

and tell me where the adverb of frequency should go

Position B! Just before the main verb!

Leslie?

Yes, Sarah. That’s right

Good job Sarah – you aren’t asleep after all

You can have 5 points,

or you can gamble and go for 150 points

What would you like to do?

…gamble?

Everyone loves an entertaining fool

Here’s your question:

Look at this sentence and tell me

where the adverb of frequency should go

Nice try!

It’s position B again!

Leslie?

Wrong, I’m afraid

You were right in the first case

The adverb of frequency goes

before the main verb

Unless, like in the second case,

the main verb is the verb be

Then, the adverb of frequency goes after

I’m sorry Sarah. That was wrong!

Minus 12 points

Well, that brings us to the end of

today’s Grammar Gameshow

Let’s count out the points

And the winner is….

Mike!

with 412

Well done! Here’s what you’ve won!

It’s a pen!

You can finally practice your spelling!

And how did you do at home?

We’ll see you again next week,

where you can play for an even bigger prize

And Sarah?

You barely got in the game at all

Why?

I think it’s because…

Fascinating!

Feed her to the sharks!

It looks like we’ll need another contestant

Thanks for joining us

Say goodbye Leslie

Goodbye Leslie

See you next time!