"Usually" and "always"

[Rachel Adams]

The screenshot is from my book "English Grammar in Context" by Simon Clarke. It says "usually" and "always" are not used when we are talking about something generally. It says the following examples are wrong. 1. "He usually plays tennis." 2."We always go to the cinema." Do you agree with it?

 

[Tdol]

He does say that they are wrong without a context, which is different.

 

[jutfrank]

He's saying that they do not belong in the same class of frequency adverb, which is quite right.

 

[Rachel Adams]

He's saying that they do not belong in the same class of frequency adverb, which is quite right.

This is the only book where this rule is mentioned. The following example is from "Essential Grammar in Use" by Raymond Murphy. Is it the same use?
"I usually to to work by car but sometimes I walk."

What adverbs can I use in these examples instead of "usually" and "always" if I need to talk about something that happens generally?
1. "He usually plays tennis." 2."We always go to the cinema."

 

[Tarheel]

Either can work in the proper context.

Rachel: What does he do for recreation?
Tarheel: He usually plays tennis.

Rachel: What do you do on the weekend?
Tarheel: We always go to the cinema.

(Cross posted.)

Edited to add:

Keep in mind how important context is.

 

[Rachel Adams]

That's fine. The speaker is mentioning an activity that takes place for a specific purpose at a specific time. Without more context, the short sentence "I usually walk" is not natural.
1. often, frequently, regularly, or add something such as after school, on Saturday mornings, etc.
2. Add something like on Saturday evening.

So if I want to say that something happens generally with "always" and "usually" I should use additional information. Without additional information I don't use "always" and "usually" but I can use "regularly" or any of the adverbs you suggested. "I usually/always go out when I have time." Is correct.
"I usually/always go out." Is wrong. I can use "regularly" instead. "I regularly go out."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . "I usually/always go out." Is wrong. I can use "regularly" instead. "I regularly go out."

Regularly is not special. Use it the same way you use always and usually:

- I always go out.
- I frequently go out.
- I invariably go out.
- I never go out.
- I occasionally go out.
- I often go out.
- I periodically go out.
- I rarely go out.
- I regularly go out.
- I sometimes go out.
- I usually go out.

. . . and so on. They all tell us how often you go out.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Regularly is not special. Use it the same way you use always and usually:

- I always go out.
- I frequently go out.
- I invariably go out.
- I never go out.
- I occasionally go out.
- I often go out.
- I periodically go out.
- I rarely go out.
- I regularly go out.
- I sometimes go out.
- I usually go out.

. . . and so on. They all tell us how often you go out.

Do you mean your first sentence is correct in the right context but not as a short sentence as Piscean said?

 

[Tarheel]

Anything has to have context to have any real meaning.

Tarheel: What do you do when it rains?
Charlie: I always go out.
Tarheel: You like to go outside in the rain?
Charlie: Yes, I do!
Tarheel: You're weird, Charlie!

;-)

 

[jutfrank]

Regularly is not special. Use it the same way you use always and usually:

Actually, regularly is quite different from always and usually. They are not used in the same way at all.

regularly means that the action is regular. It says something about the intervals of frequency.
usually means that the action happens under normal conditions. That's quite different. It is not really about frequency.
always can be tricky, as it has different meanings in different contexts.

They all tell us how often you go out.

No, they don't. Only some do.