Grammar › Adverbs › Frequency
Frequency adverbs
How often does it happen? A little ladder of adverbs runs from 毎日-level "always" all the way down to "never" — and the bottom rungs come with a catch.
The short version
These adverbs go before the verb and set how often it happens. The catch: the two lowest, あまり and ぜんぜん, are "negative-polarity" — they only work with a negative verb. Drop the ない and the sentence falls over.
| Adverb | How often | Verb |
|---|---|---|
| いつも | always | positive |
| よく | often | positive |
| ときどき | sometimes | positive |
| たまに | once in a while | positive |
| あまり〜ない | not very often | negative |
| ぜんぜん〜ない | never / not at all | negative |
いつも・よく・ときどき — the positive side
The upper rungs pair with an ordinary positive verb. いつも ("always") tops the scale.
いつも11時半には寝ますね。
I always go to bed by 11:30. (いつも = "every time, always")
たまに — every now and then
たまに sits low but stays positive — "occasionally", rarer than ときどき.
僕もたまにね。
Me too, once in a while. (たまに = "every so often")
ぜんぜん・あまり — must go negative
The bottom of the ladder flips the verb negative. ぜんぜん〜ない is "not at all"; あまり〜ない is a softer "not much".
全然できない。
I can't do it at all. (ぜんぜん + negative できない)
Watch out
🗣 ぜんぜん + a positive = casual "totally". Textbooks pair 全然 with a negative, and that's the safe rule — but in casual speech you'll hear 全然大丈夫 ("totally fine") and 全然いい ("perfectly OK"), where 全然 means "absolutely, no problem". Great to recognise; keep the negative form for anything careful.
あまり & ぜんぜん need a negative to survive. ×あまり行く is broken — it must be あまり行かない ("don't go much"). The positive adverbs (いつも・よく・ときどき・たまに) carry no such requirement.
Next: Degree — とても・すごく・あまり → · もう・まだ → · All grammar
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