Grammar › Adverbs

Adverbs of time

450 fill-in-the-gap exercises, 45 tests of ten

They say when. Most go at the end; a few have fixed places of their own.

The straightforward ones

Yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, last week, next month, soon, later, then go at the end:

We’re leaving tomorrow. I’ll call you later.

They can also open the sentence, for emphasis or contrast: Tomorrow we’re leaving.

The four that have their own rules

already — positive sentences, before the main verb, meaning sooner than expected:

She has already left.

yet — negatives and questions, at the end, meaning not so far:

She hasn’t left yet. Has she left yet?

still — before the main verb, meaning it is continuing when you expected it to have stopped:

He still lives with his parents. She still hasn’t replied.

Note the difference between the last one and hasn’t replied yet: still adds impatience.

just — before the main verb, meaning a moment ago:

They’ve just arrived.

Time words and tenses

Some time words decide the tense for you:

• yesterday, last week, in 2019, two days ago → Past Simple
• already, yet, just, so far, recently → Present Perfect
• now, at the moment, currently → Present Continuous

I saw him yesterday. — not I have seen him yesterday.

Place before time

When both appear at the end, place comes first:

She arrived at the office late.

All forms

Examples

Taken from the 450 sentences in this drill. The answer is highlighted.

• The volunteers are washing the car now; please do not interrupt.
• They have emailed the supplier recently, only last week.
• The volunteers replaced the broken window yesterday.
• There was no time to lose, so they booked the tickets immediately.
• My parents have already mowed the front lawn.
• My parents are still translating the contract, even after three hours.
• Our neighbor will cook the evening meal tomorrow.
• After three failed attempts we finally recorded the rehearsal.
• My colleagues fixed the broken latch early this morning, before anyone else arrived.
• She will write the second chapter later, once the meeting is over.
• Nowadays nearly every office sells the old piano electronically.
• She washed the car late, long after the others had gone home.

Mistakes to avoid

Other forms of Adverbs