word order: frequency words

[doltcrow]

Originally Posted by mas94010

1.Are these correct?
*Often Mr. Johnson dictates reports to his secretary.
*Are you ready for breakfast usually by eight o'clock?
*They always have tried to follow his instructions very carefully.

I think these sound better:

Mr. Johnson often dictates reports to his secretary.
Are you usually ready for breakfast by eight o'clock?
They have always tried to follows his instructions very carefully.

Cheers

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by doltcrow

I think these sound better:

Mr. Johnson often dictates reports to his secretary.
Are you usually ready for breakfast by eight o'clock?
They have always tried to follows his instructions very carefully.

Cheers

Yep. Those follow the usual, expected pattern.

[Romeo4755]

Can you please correct the following sentence:
' You needn't apologize. I've been often treated even worse.'

(or should I better place often between the two auxilaries, after the echo?)

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by Romeo4755

Can you please correct the following sentence:
' You needn't apologize. I've been often treated even worse.'

(or should I better place often between the two auxilaries, after the echo?)

Try:

You needn't apologize. I've often been treated even worse.

~R

[sarat_106]

I am not a professional teacher. In this case,
I think the clarifications given by Mr, Ronbee are very clear. I only like to add the following to strengthen his opinion. This is also to clear the doubts raised by Mr. Sanny. The general as well as universal rule is of course “Adverbs expressing the frequency of an action are usually placed before the main verb but after auxiliary verbs (such as be, have, may, must)”. As we all know there is always some exception to English grammar rules for which, to master English language is considered to be most difficult and challenging task. So here the exception is that certain adverbs of frequency can be placed at the beginning or end of a sentence and 'usually' is one such word.
Normal: Tom usually arrives home late.
Also possible: Usually Tom arrives home late
OR Tom arrives home late usually.
Ofcourse good teachers do not accept the third sentence.

[iconoclast]

The general rule for ANY adverbial inserted into the verb phrase is
(1) Adverbial + One-Word Main Verb, or
(2) auxiliary + Adverbial + (auxiliary) + (auxiliary) + Main Verb,
with the present and past simple of 'be' the exception, e.g.
1. She's always on time.
2. They only go to church when his parents visit.
3. I think I've just broken my toe.
4. He doesn't always keep his promises.
5. They've never been stopped by the police.
6. They can hardly have been given the right information.

There also seems to be a little flexibility in some situations, indicating small shifts in focus, e.g.
7a. This could easily have been avoided.
7b. This could have easily been avoided.
7c. This could have been easily avoided.

Traditionally (in British English), (some) frequency adverbs move in front of the first auxiliary or the verb 'be' to indicate stress, e.g.
8. He NEVER is late.
9. She ALWAYS has been a churchgoer.

They can be stressed in normal position, as well, of course, e.g.
10. He's ALWAYS late.
11. She's ALWAYS been a churchgoer.

The adverbial 'never' can front a clause for greater stress (part of the pattern of negative fronting involving inversion, e.g.
12. NEVER have I met such a bunch of idiots.

However, in the American press it's common to see traditional British stressed formation with no stress intended.