Adverbs of Time and Frequency

Understanding Adverbs of Time and Frequency

In this chapter you learn how to say when something happens and how often it happens. You already know simple sentences with verbs in the present. Now you will add small words that give your sentences a clear time frame. These are called adverbs of time and frequency.

Adverbs of time tell you when something happens. Adverbs of frequency tell you how often something happens.

Example in English: “I always work.”
In Persian the order is: “I always work” → “I always work” with “always” before the verb:
من همیشه کار می‌کنم.
man hamishe kâr mikonam.
“I always work.”

You will see this pattern many times in this chapter.

Basic Adverbs of Time

These words answer “When?” in a very simple way. Use them to say what you do today, tomorrow, and so on.

Today:
امروز
emruz

Example:
امروز کار می‌کنم.
emruz kâr mikonam.
“Today I work / I am working today.”

Yesterday:
دیروز
diruz

Example:
دیروز خانه بودم.
diruz khâne budam.
“Yesterday I was at home.”

Tomorrow:
فردا
fardâ

Example:
فردا درس می‌خوانم.
fardâ dars mikhânam.
“Tomorrow I study.”

Now:
الان / حالا
alân / hâlâ

Both are common. “Alân” is very frequent in speech.

Example:
الان می‌روم.
alân miravam.
“I am going now.”

Tonight:
امشب
emshab

Example:
امشب می‌آیم.
emshab miâyam.
“I will come tonight.”

Later:
بعداً
ba’dan

Example:
بعداً زنگ می‌زنم.
ba’dan zang mizanam.
“I will call later.”

Early / late in a general sense belongs to more detailed time expressions and will appear later. For now focus on these very basic time words.

Notice that when you put a time word like “today” or “tomorrow” in the sentence, you usually do not need another word like “on”. You simply say “today I work” or “tomorrow I study”.

Position of Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time usually come before the verb. They can be at the beginning of the sentence, or after the subject. Both are correct. At A2 level, use simple patterns.

Subject + time adverb + verb:

من امروز کار می‌کنم.
man emruz kâr mikonam.
“I work today.”

Time adverb at the beginning:

امروز من کار می‌کنم.
emruz man kâr mikonam.
“Today I work.”

Both sentences are fine. The meaning is almost the same.

If there is no clear subject, you can start directly with the time word.

امشب می‌خوابم.
emshab mikhâbam.
“Tonight I sleep / I will sleep.”

Adverbs of Frequency: Saying How Often

Now you learn how to say “always”, “usually”, “often”, “sometimes”, “never” and some similar ideas. These are adverbs of frequency. They answer the question “How often?”

Always:
همیشه
hamishe

Example:
من همیشه صبحانه می‌خورم.
man hamishe sobhâne mikhoram.
“I always eat breakfast.”

Usually:
معمولاً
ma’mulan

Example:
معمولاً دیر نمی‌آیم.
ma’mulan dir nemiâyam.
“I usually do not come late.”

Often:
اغلب
aghlab

Example:
اغلب خانه کار می‌کنم.
aghlab khâne kâr mikonam.
“Often I work at home.”

Sometimes:
گاهی / بعضی وقت‌ها
gâhi / ba’zi vaght-hâ

Example:
گاهی ورزش می‌کنم.
gâhi varzesh mikonam.
“Sometimes I exercise.”

Rarely / seldom (not often):
کم
kam

Literally “little”, but in this position it works like “rarely”.

Example:
من کم تلویزیون می‌بینم.
man kam televizion mibinam.
“I rarely watch TV.”

Never:
هیچ‌وقت / هرگز
hichvaght / hargez

Both mean “never”. “Hichvaght” is very common in speech.

Example:
من هیچ‌وقت گوشت نمی‌خورم.
man hichvaght gusht nemikhoram.
“I never eat meat.”

Position of Adverbs of Frequency

The standard place for an adverb of frequency is before the verb, after the subject. This is the easiest and most natural pattern for you at this level.

Subject + adverb of frequency + verb:

من همیشه کار می‌کنم.
man hamishe kâr mikonam.
“I always work.”

تو معمولاً خانه هستی.
to ma’mulan khâne hasti.
“You are usually at home.”

او گاهی تلویزیون می‌بیند.
u gâhi televizion mibinad.
“He / she sometimes watches TV.”

We can also put the adverb at the start of the sentence. That gives it a little extra stress, but the meaning is similar.

همیشه من این‌جا هستم.
hamishe man injâ hastam.
“I am always here.”

For now, focus on the simple and very common pattern:

Combining Time and Frequency

You can use a time word and a frequency word in the same sentence, and you will do this a lot in daily speech. You then say both “when” and “how often”.

The most natural order is:

Subject + time adverb + frequency adverb + verb

For example:

من صبح‌ها همیشه چای می‌خورم.
man sobh-hâ hamishe chây mikhoram.
“In the mornings I always drink tea.”

Here “sobh-hâ” means “in the mornings” and works like a repeated time. The word “hamishe” shows frequency.

Another example with “today”:

امروز معمولاً خانه هستم.
emruz ma’mulan khâne hastam.
“Today I am usually at home.”

Or with “tonight”:

امشب شاید فیلم ببینم.
emshab shâyad film bebinam.
“Tonight maybe I will watch a movie.”

The word “shâyad” means “maybe” and it is also an adverb, but it shows possibility, not time or frequency. You will meet more of these later.

You can also put the frequency adverb immediately after the subject and then put the time word later. The meaning is the same.

من همیشه امشب خانه هستم
would be strange, because “hamishe” and “emshab” conflict. “Always tonight” does not make sense. Make sure your frequency and time words match in meaning.

Correct combinations:

من همیشه شب‌ها کتاب می‌خوانم.
man hamishe shabhâ ketâb mikhânam.
“I always read at night.”

من گاهی عصرها پیاده‌روی می‌کنم.
man gâhi asr-hâ piyâde-ravi mikonam.
“Sometimes in the afternoons I go for a walk.”

Saying “Every day”, “Every week”, and Similar Ideas

There is another way to show repeated time that is very useful. You can use “every” with days or periods of time. In Persian you usually use the word هر (har) before the time word.

Every day:
هر روز
har ruz

Every week:
هر هفته
har hafte

Every month:
هر ماه
har mâh

Every year:
هر سال
har sâl

Every morning:
هر صبح
har sobh

Every night:
هر شب
har shab

These expressions behave like adverbs of time. They are usually placed before the verb, after the subject or at the beginning of the sentence.

Example:

من هر روز کار می‌کنم.
man har ruz kâr mikonam.
“I work every day.”

او هر هفته فوتبال بازی می‌کند.
u har hafte futbol bâzi mikonad.
“He / she plays football every week.”

هر شب کتاب می‌خوانم.
har shab ketâb mikhânam.
“Every night I read a book.”

These “every” expressions already express frequency, so you often do not need another frequency adverb like “always”. If you say “always every day” it sounds too strong or strange.

Using Adverbs with the Verb “to be”

The verb “to be” in Persian is usually a short ending at the end of the sentence, like هستم (hastam), هستی (hasti), هست (hast), or informal forms. Adverbs of time and frequency still come before this verb, not after.

Subject + adverb + complement + “to be”:

من همیشه خسته هستم.
man hamishe khaste hastam.
“I am always tired.”

امروز خانه هستم.
emruz khâne hastam.
“Today I am at home.”

او معمولاً این‌جا نیست.
u ma’mulan injâ nist.
“He / she is usually not here.”

Note that negation also happens before the “to be” verb, but that belongs mainly in the negation chapter. It is enough now to see where the adverb goes.

Simple Contrast of Frequency

You can use two frequency adverbs together in conversation to show contrast, for example what you often do and what you never do.

Examples:

من اغلب چای می‌خورم، ولی هیچ‌وقت قهوه نمی‌خورم.
man aghlab chây mikhoram, vali hichvaght ghahve nemikhoram.
“I often drink tea, but I never drink coffee.”

او معمولاً خانه است، گاهی بیرون می‌رود.
u ma’mulan khâne ast, gâhi birun miravad.
“He / she is usually at home, sometimes goes out.”

Notice how each clause still follows the same simple pattern: subject, adverb, verb.

Answering Questions with Adverbs of Time and Frequency

When someone asks you a question, you can answer using these adverbs. At A1 and A2 level, you can keep answers short. You do not always need a full sentence.

Question in English: “When do you work?”
Possible short answer in Persian:

هر روز.
har ruz.
“Every day.”

Or a full answer:

من هر روز کار می‌کنم.
man har ruz kâr mikonam.
“I work every day.”

Question: “How often do you exercise?”

گاهی.
gâhi.
“Sometimes.”

اغلب ورزش می‌کنم.
aghlab varzesh mikonam.
“I often exercise.”

In spoken Persian, people often answer with only the adverb, because the verb and subject are clear from the question.

Time and Frequency in Daily Routines

You can now talk about your routine in a simple way. Combine present tense verbs with adverbs of time and frequency.

Examples of short daily routine sentences:

من همیشه صبح زود بیدار می‌شوم.
man hamishe sobh-e zud bidâr mishavam.
“I always wake up early in the morning.”

معمولاً صبحانه می‌خورم.
ma’mulan sobhâne mikhoram.
“I usually eat breakfast.”

هر روز کار می‌کنم.
har ruz kâr mikonam.
“I work every day.”

گاهی بعد از کار پیاده‌روی می‌کنم.
gâhi ba’d az kâr piyâde-ravi mikonam.
“Sometimes after work I go for a walk.”

امشب خانه می‌مانم.
emshab khâne mimânam.
“Tonight I stay at home.”

These sentences show how a few adverbs can help you describe your life in simple Persian.

Vocabulary List for This Section