2 · Adverbs that carry the grammar
How often: from always to never
adverbs of frequency
Chángcháng, jīngcháng, zǒngshì, yìzhí, yǒushíhou and cónglái bù or méi — all before the verb.
Words for how often stand where every Chinese adverb stands: after the subject, before the verb. 常常 and 经常 mean “often”, 总是 means “always, every time”, 有时候 means “sometimes”. Only 有时候 is free to open the sentence as well, because it is really a time phrase, “at some times”.
“Never” has two forms, and the choice is the same as the one between 不 and 没. For a habit or a rule, 从来不: 他从来不喝酒, “he never drinks”. For something that has never happened, 从来没…过: 我从来没去过国外, “I have never been abroad”.
一直 is often translated “always”, but it means “all along, without a break”: 我一直住在这儿, “I have lived here all along”. It describes one continuous stretch, not a habit that repeats. 总是 is the repeating one — and it often carries a complaint: 你总是迟到, “you’re always late”.
One small trap: the negative of 常常 is 不常 or 不经常, never 不常常.
The form
| often | 他常常去公园跑步。 |
| not often | 我不常看电视。 |
| always, every time | 她总是很早到。 |
| sometimes | 有时候我坐地铁上班。 |
| never, as a habit | 他从来不喝酒。 |
| never, as an experience | 我从来没去过国外。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Frequency adverbs stand before the verb; 有时候 can also open the sentence.
我周末常常去爬山。I often go hiking at weekends.
The negative of 常常 is 不常 or 不经常.
我不常做饭。I don’t cook very often.
从来不 for a habit; 从来没 … 过 for something that has never happened.
我从来没见过这么大的鱼。I have never seen such a big fish.
一直 means continuously, all along — not “always” as a habit.
从早上到现在，雨一直在下。It has been raining non-stop since this morning.
总是 is “every time”, and often a complaint.
你总是忘带钥匙。You’re always forgetting your keys.
A closer look
Two kinds of “always”
English “always” covers two pictures: a line that never breaks and a dot that keeps coming back. Chinese draws them separately. 一直 is the line — 我一直在等你, “I’ve been waiting for you the whole time”. 总是 is the dot — 他总是在等别人, “he is always the one waiting for others”, on every occasion.
Because 一直 is about one stretch of time, it also reaches into the future: 我会一直支持你, “I will support you all the way”. And 经常 differs from 常常 in a further point: it can describe a noun as well, 经常的事, “a regular occurrence”.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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一直 is followed by a verb of movement such as 走
it means “straight on”, not “all the time”.
你一直往前走，就能看到银行。Go straight ahead and you’ll see the bank.
The literal meaning is “one straight line”; in space it is straight ahead, in time it is without a break.
How to spot it
- 常常
- 经常
- 总是
- 一直
- 有时候
- 从来不
- 从来没…过
Example sentences
我和朋友经常一起吃饭。My friends and I often eat together.
有时候我走路上班，有时候骑车。Sometimes I walk to work, sometimes I cycle.
他从来不吃早饭。He never eats breakfast.
我一直想去西安看看。I’ve always wanted to go and see Xi’an.
她总是第一个到办公室。She is always the first to arrive at the office.
我爷爷从来没坐过飞机。My grandfather has never been on a plane.
7 more example sentences
这儿冬天经常下雪。It often snows here in winter.
我不经常上网买东西。I don’t often shop online.
他上课总是坐在后面。He always sits at the back in class.
我们一直等到十点。We waited right up until ten.
她从来不迟到。She is never late.
我有时候在家工作。Sometimes I work from home.
他从来没跟我说过这件事。He has never mentioned this to me.
Worth knowing (1)
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Seldom: hěn shǎo
Chinese has no single adverb for “rarely”. The usual way is 很少 before the verb — literally “very few (times)”. It sits between 不常 and 从来不.
我很少看电视。I seldom watch television.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
常常 is the doubled, emphatic form of 常, and Chinese does not negate the doubled form. “Not often” is 不常, or 不经常, or simply 很少, “seldom”.
Frequency comes before the verb; never as a habit is cónglái bù, never as an experience is cónglái méi … guo.
Your turn
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