This kind of ranking is very useful for students, but note that the order above is very approximate. “usually”/ “generally”/ “typically”/ “most of the time”.A more extensive list could include, in approximate order of frequency: There are also other useful adverbs of frequency which are less commonly taught such as “almost always”, “almost never”, and “hardly ever”. Similar expressions without a number that also go with Present Simple include the basic adverbs of frequency “always”, “usually”, “often”, “sometimes” and “never”. The expressions “every day/ week/ month/…” have a similar meaning, but don’t make clear if the speaker means “once a…” or more than once (although it often means the former). Time expressions with Present Simple reflect that tense’s use to talk about repeated actions (routines, habits, etc), and so are mostly answers to “How often…?” These include similar frequency expressions with “once”, “twice” or “… times” plus “a” (or less commonly “per”) with a singular period of time or “every” with a plural period of time, as in: By far the most common is “today” (“Today I’m speaking to you from…” etc), but it is also possible with “this…” expressions such as “this week”, often in contrast with Present Simple phrases like “I usually work in an office but this week I’m…” ![]() ![]() ![]() Some other time expressions that aren’t synonyms of “now” are also used with Present Continuous. Reflecting the meaning and use of the tense, time expressions with Present Continuous mostly mean “now”, including, in approximate order of usefulness: What students need to know about present time expressions
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