9 Helpful Types of Adverbs of Time
Do you know when you last misused adverbs of time?
Not only do writers want to make their descriptions accurate; they want to make sure the audience understands what they are describing precisely. Adverbs are the part of speech that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. These helpful words help support actions by expanding upon how, where, or when something happens. They help explain how often or how soon something happens or is happening. Make sure to match your adverb with the time and occurrence of your verb and the rest of the predicate. Otherwise you get confusing sentences like: “He sent in his results sooner or later.” (Did he send in his results or is he waiting for later?)
There are nine types of adverbs of time:
- Now,
- Past/soon,
- Past/far off,
- Future/soon,
- Future/far off,
- Always/Often,
- Uncommon/Rarely,
- Never,
- Other/Unknown,
Types of Adverbs of Time
The only time people and cats care about: right now. You are reading this right now, and you still are.
1. Now
- Just
- Currently
- Immediately
- Now
- Promptly
- Suddenly
- Urgently
2. Past/soon
Just yesterday these words may have been unfamiliar to you.
- Freshly
- Already
- Back
- Before
- Previously
3. Past/far off
These things are ancient or at least very, very old. Do not use these adverbs of time when describing any females unless they were an ancient European warrior or Egyptian pharaoh. You will be judged for doing so.
- In ancient times
- Witheringly
- Revoltingly
- Way back
- Long Ago
- In the olden days
- In times gone by
4. Future/soon
Coming Soon! These adverbs of time describe actions that will happen in the near future (or at least seem to be). This can be the opening of a new Krispy Kreme, that action movie that is opening in a few months, or those bananas turning black in a few days.
- After
- Anew
- Later
- Next
- Tomorrow
- Subsequently
- In a minute
- Pretty soon
- After a while
- Sooner or later
- The next day
5. Future/far off
Usually the things these adverbs will describe are at least years away (and some are little more than a pipedream), so don’t use these for things that will happen soon, like getting a new electronic device.
- Ultimately
- Eventually
- Finally
- Timely
- Years passed
- At a later date
- Someday
6. Always/Often
The things these adverbs of time describe happen all the time: driving to work, eating, posting content on social media, liking videos, your favorite website changing their layout when you least want it… It happens to all of us.
- Always
- Over and over again
- Frequently
- Increasingly
- Unceasingly
- Predictably
- Liberally
- Profusely
- Sometimes
7. Uncommon/Rarely
Some things only occasionally happen. Whether it happens once a year, every few years, once a century or otherwise rarely, these things do sometimes happen.
- Annually
- Infrequently
- Maybe
- Rarely
- Occasionally
- Periodically
- Sporadically
- Once a blue moon
- Yearly
- Once
8. Never
Somethings just do not happen; no matter how statistics say the chances are never 0%. People will never stop saying that the good old days were better, bad movies will never stop being made, and scammers will never stop trying to trick you into giving them your money among other things that never happen.
- Never
- At no point
- Nor any time
- No occasion
- Under no circumstances
- Not once
- Certainly not
9. Other/Unknown
Don’t know when or how often something happens? There are words for that:
- One day
- Unchangeably
- Ambiguously
- Wildly
- Unspecifically
Summary
Writers want to make their descriptions accurate, and they want to make sure the audience understands what they are describing precisely. Adverbs are the part of speech that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. These helpful words help support actions by expanding upon how, where, or when something happens. They help explain how often or how soon something happens or is happening. Make sure to match your adverb with the time and occurrence of your verb and the rest of the predicate. For more adverbs, check out 5 Helpful Lists of -ly Adverbs.
There are nine types of adverbs of time:
- Now,
- Past/soon,
- Past/far off,
- Future/soon,
- Future/far off,
- Always/Often,
- Uncommon/Rarely,
- Never,
- Other/Unknown,
