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Hole One a New See Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Adverbs of frequency

Hi everybody,

There is a sentence in the book 'Grammar in Use':

"Julie doesn't drink tea very often." -> Why isn't the sentence something like: 'Julie doesn't very often drink tea.'

If there is a 'very' before the 'often', then should I place it to the end of the sentence?

Also I heard that there are some adverbs of frequency which also like beginning and end positions (e.g. usually and sometimes)(and I use them this way, too) but I don't think 'often' is such an adverb.

Thanks for your help in advance
  

Top answer

' If there is a 'very' before the 'often', then should I place it to the end of the sentence? I know of no such rule. Both would be correct.

— Ozzourti

  • ' If there is a 'very' before the 'often', then should I place it to the end of the sentence?
  • I know of no such rule.
  • Both would be correct.
  • So long as you don't place it before the auxiliary verb, the meaning won't change in this case.
  • Maybe the first one sounds better because the "drink tea" part is relatively short and leaves no room for ambiguity, but sometimes we have to say that something "longer" doesn't happen "very often": I don't very often say that people shouldn't put "very often" at the end of a sentence.
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7 Answers
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Hole One a New See"Julie doesn't drink tea very often." -> Why isn't the sentence something like: 'Julie doesn't very often drink tea.' If there is a 'very' before the 'often', then should I place it to the end of the sentence?
I know of no such rule. Both would be correct. So long as you don't place it before the auxiliary verb, the meaning won't change in
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I found this:
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbs_frequency.htm

Is it good? It writes that these adverbs can be at the beginning or end of the sentence. It also mention some exceptions which are not good at the end of the sentence. It doesn't write 'very often' c
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Hole One a New SeeVery often Julie doesn't drink tea.
The sentence above means something different. It suggests that "not drinking" happens very often as opposed to "drinking" not happening very often in the case of "Julie doesn't drink tea very often.". Not a very clear distinction, but it's still there.

You could also say:
Not very often does
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Hole One a New See"Julie doesn't drink tea very often." -> Why isn't the sentence something like: 'Julie doesn't very often drink tea.'
It can be written and said either way. The addition of 'very' doesn't change much of anything.

She doesn't often drink tea.
She doesn't very often drink tea.
She doesn't drink tea often.
She doesn't dr
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Thank you.

What is your opinion about:

Not very often does Julie drink tea.
?

I checked some pages to see which adverbs cause inversion in the sentence but I didn't see 'often' or 'not often' among them.

'Advanced Grammar in Use' book provides a sentence:

expressions with not..., such as not only, not until, not s
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I should have added that while grammatically correct, Not very often does Julie drink tea. is not something I would normally say. I guess the sentence is just too short or too simple for inversion.

You'll be more likely to hear something like:

Not very often does one come across an opportunity like this.

Stylistic inversion is usually applied for poetic eff
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Hole One a New SeeWhat is your opinion about:Not very often does Julie drink tea.?
My opinion is that it is grammatically correct but stylistically awkward. The better version is

Julia seldom drinks tea.
Hole One a New SeeI checked some pages to see which adverbs cause inversion in the sentence but I didn't see 'often'
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