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English has numerous time adverbs, with varying grammatical properties
THE CHALLENGE OF TIME ADVERBS
Most people are familiar with common time adverbs like now, yesterday and soon. What is less appreciated, however, is that English has a surprisingly large number of time adverbs, some of which are very unlikely to be encountered at elementary or even intermediate level. Part of the reason for such variety is that, when we come to think seriously about what is meant by “time”, we quickly find that it can be understood in different ways, each of which possesses its own range of vocabulary.
In this post I wish to examine the different meanings of “expressing time” and to present as complete a list as I can of adverbs under each heading. In the process I hope to identify and explain the difference between words that are either very close in meaning or typically confused by advanced learners of English. I will also say something about grammatical usage, which with adverbs usually means sentence positions.
Excluded as adverbs here are adverb phrases, such as most of the time, after this or for good. Many of these are listed in 85. Preposition Phrases & Corresponding Adverbs, and there is also something useful in 169. “All”, “Each” and “Every”.
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TIME ADVERB CATEGORIES
The meaning category of an adverb is fairly easily discoverable by considering which question word it is associated with (see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs, #1).
The most obvious time question word – answered by all three adverbs listed earlier – is when (= point in time). Less obvious are the time question words how often (= frequency, answered by adverbs like frequently) and how long (= duration, answered by adverbs like briefly). All of these question words are themselves time adverbs (see 285. Complexities of Question Words).
Within each group of time adverbs there are also some notable subdivisions.
Point-in-Time Adverbs
These adverbs can generally occupy either the start of a sentence or the middle (next to the verb) or the end. They may indicate a point relative to “now” or relative to another event or situation. They reinforce but cannot replace the meaning of verb tenses (see 298. Grammar Meanings without Grammar, #1).
1. Points Relative to “Now”
These may be “now”, “before now” or “after now”. The corresponding adverbs include:
(I) NOW: currently, now, nowadays, presently, this… (week, month etc.), today.
Nowadays typically suggests a contrast with the past (see 157. Tricky Word Contrasts 5, #2), while presently can contrast with the future. Today often indicates the general present. Now is perhaps preferred for briefer or recently-established present situations.
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(II) BEFORE NOW: ago, already, before, formerly, historically, hitherto, just, last… (Monday, week, month etc.), last (= the last time), lately, once, previously, recently, then, this week (etc.), yesterday.
Underlining here indicates need or ability to accompany a verb in the present perfect tense (with HAVE) rather than the past simple.
Yesterday can refer just to the past in general. Once expresses either an unrepeated past occurrence or one of many (see 282. Features of History Writing, #7). Ago must follow a period noun (e.g. months ago).
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(III) AFTER NOW: henceforth, imminently, next, next… (week etc.), presently (British English), shortly, soon, this… (Monday, week etc.), tomorrow
Henceforth means “continuously from now”, while soon indicates a delayed future start. Tomorrow can mean the future in general.
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2. Points Relative to another Event / Situation
The subdivisions here are “then” (= that same past / future time), “before then” and “after then”. Many of the words are also classified as “connectors”, showing links between separate sentences and typically positioned near the start of their sentence (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors).
Common contexts are sequence descriptions (historical narrative, laboratory instructions, process descriptions, etc.) and introductions to written or spoken exposition (see 186. Language in Oral Presentations, #1).
Examples are:
(I) THEN: concurrently, meanwhile, simultaneously, then, throughout
A key differentiator of these is the relative durations of the two events / situations. For details, see 225. Simultaneous Occurrence.
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(II) BEFORE THEN: already, before, beforehand, early, earlier, first, formerly, initially, previously.
Beforehand suggests immediately before – otherwise before, earlier or previously are preferable. Whereas earlier means “previously”, early means “near the beginning”. For a difference between first and firstly, see 20. Problem Connectors, #8.
When referring to the past, beforehand, first and initially may accompany a verb in the past simple or past perfect tense:
(a) First a value was (or had been) entered. Then the program was run.
The past simple (was) places the event within the focus of the description, while the past perfect (had been) places it outside (see 171. Aspects of the Past Perfect Tense). The other adverbs in the list more typically require the past perfect.
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(III) AFTER THEN: after, afterwards, at once, eventually, finally, immediately, lastly, later, next, now, secondly (etc.), subsequently, then, thenceforth, thereafter, thereupon
Here, “etc.” after secondly represents the entire sequence of ordinal adverbs (thirdly, fourthly…).
Note the presence of now in the list . It could, for example, replace then in (a). Note also that subsequently is commoner in descriptions than instructions.
After is unusual in not normally acting as a connector (after that being preferred: see 234. Adjective & Pronoun Uses of “that”, #1). It is more typical outside sequence descriptions, often after a time period expression, e.g. many years after, or an event verb:
(b) Compared with what came after, that summer was a happy one.
At once, like beforehand, suggests immediacy. Later suggests a time interval, eventually an extended preceding event/ situation. Eventually, lastly and finally can all show a final event, but eventually can also show earlier ones (see 210. Process Descriptions, #2).
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Frequency Adverbs
The fundamental idea here is repetition. One subgroup, illustrated by daily, indicates the length of time between repetitions; another, illustrated by twice, indicates number of repetitions.
Frequency adverbs can occupy all three sentence positions, but perhaps go less commonly at the start, where the focus is more on them than other information:
(c) Occasionally, people question the need for insurance.
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1. Adverbs like Daily
annually, biennially, hourly, intermittently, regularly, weekly, yearly
Two of these do not indicate an exact time interval: intermittently says only that it varies in length, regularly that it does not.
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2. Adverbs like Twice
again, a little, little, always, commonly, consecutively, constantly, continually, ever, (in)frequently, generally, invariably, mostly, never, normally, occasionally, often, once, rarely, repeatedly, seldom, sometimes, successively, twice, typically, unfailingly, usually
Most of these, it is clear, are vague about the number of occurrences – only once, twice and again are not. This makes them useful for indicating exceptions and avoiding sweeping statements (see 95. Avoiding Untruths 1 and the end of 215. Naming Exceptions).
Nonetheless, most can be grouped in terms of the number of occurrences. Between 0% (never) and 100% (always, ever, invariably, unfailingly), approximate percentage groups are 25% (a little, little, occasionally, rarely, seldom), 50% (sometimes), 70% (commonly, frequently, often) and 90% (generally, normally, typically, usually). Less easily quantified are constantly, continually and repeatedly.
Ever expresses frequency only with brief-action verbs – usually in continuous tenses (…is ever complaining) or participle form (see 272. Uses of “Ever”).
Unfailingly often indicates desirable regularity – it has a “positive connotation” (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #2). By contrast, repeatedly often indicates undesirability.
Little, rarely and seldom suggest an unhelpfully small frequency while a little and occasionally suggest small but useful frequency (see 310. Aspects of Negation).
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Duration Adverbs
For a full survey of duration language, see 258. Saying How Long Something Lasts. Adverbs in this category include:
always, briefly, constantly, continuously, eternally, ever, fleetingly, forever, instantaneously, long, perpetually, permanently, quickly, rapidly, since, slowly, still, temporarily, not yet
Always, constantly and perpetually express duration of states or extended actions, e.g. …always worked in Madrid (with brief actions they express frequency). Ever mainly describes adjective states (e.g. ever thankful).
Long (= “for a long time”) and since (= “between then and now”) usually accompany a “present perfect” or “past perfect” verb (i.e. with HAVE). In positive statements, long directly follows HAVE (…had long known that…), and since often does too but can also go last, especially in the combination ever since. In questions and negative statements, both long and since usually go last (…have not returned since/long).
Ever since is vague about future continuation, and is hence useful, like since then, for avoiding the “finishing now” implication of until now (see 48. Tricky Word Contrasts 1, #1). Since is not to be confused with the similarly-spelt preposition and conjunction (see 61. “Since” versus “Because”).
Still similarly expresses duration from a past point, but definitely into the future (= “not finished now”). Not still says, like no longer, that something began and ended in the past. Not yet says something has not started, but will in the future. The implied duration is of non-occurrence from the past to the future:
(e) Humans have not yet visited Mars.
A slightly weaker belief about future occurrence is shown by BE or HAVE + yet to… (…are yet to visit…), while weaker still is may yet….
Finally, note the difference between continuously (duration without interruption) and continually (repetitive frequency).
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TIME ADVERBS WITH INTERESTING EXTRA MEANING
1. Point in Time
already, at last, belatedly, consequently, duly, early, finally, late, originally, prematurely
Originally is the only one of these that cannot refer equally to past, present or future. It indicates a starting situation in the past, suggesting a later change.
Early, prematurely, late and belatedly indicate occurrence of a past, present or future event at a different time from one required or agreed, early and prematurely indicating occurrence before, the other two after. Late and prematurely usually have a negative connotation, while early and belatedly are more neutral and hence politer.
Already indicates occurrence before an expected time, scheduled or not. Duly means “at the expected time”. It differs from on time in highlighting expectation rather than punctuality: the train duly arrived is more about the fact of its arrival than the time.
Consequently shows a later time like next but also a causal link. At last suggests not just a long wait like eventually but also happiness at its end (see 20. Problem Connectors, #7). Finally can suggest this too, but mostly before isolated events.
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2. Frequency
consecutively, successively
Successively is a kind of opposite of simultaneously, suggesting multiple occurrences in a sequence, each one later than the the one before. A phrasal synonym is one after the other.
Consecutively also indicates sequential occurrences but links them to a particular time framework, such as months of the year, and indicates an absence of gaps:
(d) The six books consecutively cover the years of World War 2.
This means each book is about one war year and the book sequence matches the year one.
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