Adverbs of Degree & Frequency

Adverbs of degree tell you how much or to what extent something happens, while adverbs of frequency tell you how often it happens. You already know common ones like "very", "always", and "never". Now you will learn stronger and more precise adverbs such as "extremely", "rarely", and "hardly", and where to place them correctly in a sentence.

What You'll Learn

• How to use advanced adverbs of degree: extremely, incredibly, absolutely, and fairly
• How to use less common adverbs of frequency: rarely, seldom, and occasionally
• How to use hardly and scarcely correctly (near-negative adverbs)
• The correct placement of these adverbs in different sentence structures

When to Use

1. Emphasising a strong degree: "The science experiment was extremely successful."
2. Describing something that almost never happens: "It rarely snows in Singapore."
3. Expressing a near-negative meaning: "She could hardly believe the results of the competition."
4. Showing an action happens from time to time: "We occasionally visit the National Museum at weekends."
5. Softening or moderating a description: "The test was fairly difficult, but most students managed to finish."

How to Form

Adverbs of Degree (from weaker to stronger)

These adverbs modify adjectives, other adverbs, or verbs to show how much.

Adverbs of Frequency (from least to most often)

These adverbs tell you how often something happens.

Placement Rules

Key Rules

1. "Hardly" and "scarcely" are near-negatives: They mean "almost not". Because they already carry a negative meaning, do not add "not" with them. Say "I can hardly hear you," not "I can't hardly hear you."

2. "Hardly" is not the adverb form of "hard": "Hard" as an adverb means "with great effort" (He studied hard). "Hardly" means "almost not" (He hardly studied). These have completely different meanings.

3. Degree adverbs go before what they modify: Place "extremely", "incredibly", and "fairly" directly before the adjective or adverb they describe. "The weather is extremely hot," not "The weather is hot extremely."

4. Frequency adverbs go before the main verb: "She rarely eats fast food." But they go after the verb "be": "He is seldom late for school."

5. "Absolutely" pairs with strong adjectives: Use "absolutely" with extreme adjectives like "amazing", "terrible", "brilliant", and "freezing". Say "absolutely amazing", not "absolutely good". For ordinary adjectives, use "very" or "extremely" instead.

6. "Rarely" and "seldom" can start a sentence for emphasis: When they begin a sentence, the word order changes to question form. "Rarely does she make a mistake." This inverted form appears in more formal writing and examinations.

Common Mistakes

Clue Words

Degree adverb clues (look for these when the question asks "how much" or "to what extent")

extremely, incredibly, absolutely, fairly, rather, slightly, barely, hardly, scarcely, somewhat

Frequency adverb clues (look for these when the question asks "how often")

rarely, seldom, occasionally, hardly ever, frequently, almost always

Strong adjective pairings (use "absolutely", not "very")

amazing, terrible, brilliant, freezing, boiling, enormous, tiny, starving, exhausted, delighted

Tip: If the adverb means "almost not" (hardly, barely, scarcely), treat it like a negative word -- never add "not" alongside it. If you are unsure whether an adjective is strong or ordinary, try putting "very" in front of it. If "very amazing" sounds odd, the adjective is strong and you should use "absolutely" instead.

Practice Tips

1. The substitution test: Replace the adverb with its meaning to check if the sentence still makes sense. "I hardly ate" becomes "I almost did not eat." If the meaning fits, you have used it correctly.

2. Degree ladder exercise: Take a simple sentence like "The test was difficult" and rewrite it with different degree adverbs: slightly difficult, fairly difficult, quite difficult, very difficult, extremely difficult, incredibly difficult. Notice how the meaning changes with each step.

3. Frequency timeline: Draw a line from 0% to 100%. Place the frequency adverbs along the line (never, rarely, seldom, occasionally, sometimes, often, usually, almost always, always). Use this visual to choose the right adverb when writing.

4. Hard vs hardly check: Whenever you write "hardly", pause and ask: "Do I mean almost not, or do I mean with great effort?" If you mean with great effort, change it to "hard".

Quick Reference

Degree Adverbs -- Strength Scale

Frequency Adverbs -- Placement Summary

Tricky Pairs