Adverbs of Frequency in Italian

We normally use Adverbs of Frequency to say how frequently we do an activity or how often things happen.

• D’estate vado sempre in vacanza al mare. (In summer I always go on vacation by the sea)
• Non mi piace fare jogging, ma ogni tanto vado in palestra. (I don’t like jogging, but sometimes I go to the gym)
• Bevo raramente la birra. Preferisco il vino. (I rarely drink beer. I prefer wine)
• Mangio spesso al ristorante perchè non ho tempo di fare la spesa al supermercato (I often eat at the restaurant because I don’t have time to go to the supermarket)

In Italian we use:

• Sempre (Always) ++
• Spesso (Often) +
• Ogni tanto (Sometimes) *
• Raramente (Rarely) –
• Non … Mai (Never) —

The majority of these adverbs have different acceptable positions in the sentence.

Pay attention to these adverbs:

1. non…mai – between non and mai there has always to be the verb

• ex. Sono vegetariano, quindi non mangio mai carne. (I’m vegetarian, therefore I never eat meat.)

2. sempre – this adverb always follows the verb

• Faccio sempre un sonnellino dopo pranzo. (I always take a nap after lunch.)

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