What are the French adverbs of frequency?

From most to least frequent: toujours (always), souvent (often), généralement and d'habitude (usually), parfois and quelquefois (sometimes), de temps en temps (from time to time), rarement (rarely), and ne… jamais (never).

Where do frequency adverbs go in French?

After the conjugated verb: je vais souvent au cinéma. In compound tenses the short ones go between the auxiliary and the past participle: j'y suis souvent allé. Longer phrases like de temps en temps go at the start or the end of the clause.

How do you say twice a week in French?

Deux fois par semaine. The count uses fois and the period uses par with no article at all: une fois par jour, trois fois par mois, quatre fois par an. Par la semaine is a common learner error.

What's the difference between le lundi and lundi?

Le lundi means on Mondays, as a habit; lundi on its own means this coming Monday or last Monday. So le magasin est fermé le dimanche is a general rule, while je pars dimanche is about one particular day.

Does rarement need ne like jamais does?

No. Rarement is a plain adverb, so il mange rarement du poisson keeps both the ne-free verb and the partitive du. Jamais is a negative and needs ne in front of the verb, and it reduces du to de: il ne mange jamais de poisson.

French grammar · Beginner

French Adverbs of Frequency: Toujours, Souvent, Parfois, Jamais

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Adverbs of frequency answer the question how often: toujours, souvent, parfois, rarement, jamais. They follow the verb rather than preceding it, and in compound tenses the short ones slip between the auxiliary and the past participle. Counted frequencies use fois and par: deux fois par semaine.

Je vais souvent au marché, mais je n'y vais jamais le dimanche.

I often go to the market, but I never go there on Sundays.

What it is

Frequency adverbs place an action on a scale from every time to never. French has a full set of them, and the main difficulty isn't vocabulary but word order: English puts these adverbs in front of the verb and French puts them after it, without exception.

Il est souvent en retard, il est parfois à l'heure, il n'est jamais en avance. — He's often late, he's sometimes on time, he's never early.

How to spot it

Find the conjugated verb and put the adverb immediately after it. If the verb is compound, short frequency adverbs go inside, between the two parts.

Elle vient souvent nous voir. — She often comes to see us.
Il a rarement tort. — He's rarely wrong.
Nous y allons parfois. — We sometimes go there.
Je n'ai jamais essayé. — I've never tried.

Jamais is the only one in the set that needs ne in front of the verb, because it's a negative as well as a frequency word.

Adverbs of Frequency Quick Reference

The frequency scale, from always to never

Adverb	English	Example
toujours	always	Il arrive toujours en avance.
souvent	often	On se voit souvent.
généralement / d'habitude	usually	D'habitude, je prends le bus.
parfois / quelquefois	sometimes	Il vient parfois le samedi.
de temps en temps	from time to time	On sort de temps en temps.
rarement	rarely	Elle mange rarement dehors.
ne… presque jamais	hardly ever	Il ne fume presque jamais.
ne… jamais	never	Je ne bois jamais de café.

Common Adverbs of Frequency Examples in French

Frequency adverbs in the positions they take:

The Top of the Scale

Il prend toujours le même chemin.: He always takes the same route.
Nous dînons souvent chez eux.: We often have dinner at their place.
D'habitude, elle rentre à six heures.: She usually gets home at six.
Elle fait généralement ses courses le samedi.: She generally does her shopping on Saturdays.

D'habitude and généralement are long enough to sit at the front of the sentence with a comma.

The Middle

Je travaille parfois le week-end.: I sometimes work at weekends.
Il nous appelle de temps en temps.: He calls us from time to time.
Quelquefois, elle oublie ses clés.: Sometimes she forgets her keys.
On y va une fois de temps en temps.: We go there once in a while.

Parfois and quelquefois are interchangeable; parfois is a little more common in writing.

The Bottom

Il sort rarement le soir.: He rarely goes out in the evening.
Elle ne se plaint presque jamais.: She hardly ever complains.
Je ne regarde jamais la télévision.: I never watch television.
Ils ne viennent plus jamais nous voir.: They never come to see us any more.

Jamais and presque jamais both need ne, and both turn any following article into de.

Counted Frequencies

Je vais à la piscine deux fois par semaine.: I go swimming twice a week.
Elle appelle sa mère tous les jours.: She calls her mother every day.
On se réunit une fois par mois.: We meet once a month.
Il vient chaque mardi.: He comes every Tuesday.

Par takes no article in a rate expression: par semaine, par mois, par an, never par la semaine.

How Frequency Adverbs Are Placed

The word order is where the errors are. The vocabulary itself is straightforward.

After the Verb, Never Before It

English says I often work late, and French cannot copy that. The adverb goes after the conjugated verb: je travaille souvent tard. This applies to every frequency adverb without exception.

Nous mangeons rarement au restaurant.

We rarely eat out.

verb + frequency adverb.

Short Ones Split Compound Tenses

Toujours, souvent, rarement, and jamais go between the auxiliary and the past participle, sharing the slot with pas and déjà.

Il a souvent déménagé.

He's moved house a lot.

a souvent déménagé.

Longer Ones Move to the Edges

De temps en temps, d'habitude, and la plupart du temps are phrases rather than single words, so they behave like time expressions: they go at the start or the end of the clause.

De temps en temps, on va au théâtre.

From time to time we go to the theatre.

Phrase-length → the edges.

Jamais Needs Ne

Jamais is a negative adverb, so the verb needs ne in front of it and any following article reduces to de. Rarement, despite meaning almost the same thing, is not a negative and does neither.

Il ne boit jamais de vin, mais il boit rarement du café.

He never drinks wine, but he rarely drinks coffee.

jamais → ne and de. rarement → neither.

Rates Use Fois and Par

To count occasions, French uses fois for the number of times and par for the period: trois fois par jour. The noun after par stands with no article at all, which is unusual enough to be a reliable signal.

Il s'entraîne quatre fois par semaine.

He trains four times a week.

X fois par + bare noun.

Common Mistakes with Adverbs of Frequency

Incorrect: Je souvent prends le train. — I often take the train.

Correct: Je prends souvent le train. — I often take the train.

Frequency adverbs go after the conjugated verb in French. English puts them before it, and that habit produces this order almost automatically.

Incorrect: Je vais deux fois par la semaine. — I go twice a week.

Correct: Je vais deux fois par semaine. — I go twice a week.

In a rate expression, par is followed by a bare noun. Adding the article is the most frequent error with this structure.

Incorrect: Il boit jamais de bière. — He never drinks beer.

Correct: Il ne boit jamais de bière. — He never drinks beer.

Jamais is half of a negative pair and needs ne in writing. Dropping it is normal in speech but not acceptable in anything written.

Incorrect: Il vient trois temps par mois. — He comes three times a month.

Correct: Il vient trois fois par mois. — He comes three times a month.

Temps is time as a substance, not an occasion. Counted occasions are fois, which has no other meaning.

Saying How Many Times

Beyond the adverbs, French has three separate patterns for counting occasions, and each covers different ground.

Fois and par

Une fois, deux fois, plusieurs fois give the count; par plus a bare noun gives the period.

une fois par an: once a year
trois fois par jour: three times a day
Je l'ai vu plusieurs fois.: I've seen him several times.
C'est la première fois que je viens.: It's the first time I've come.

Temps is not a countable occasion in French. Three times is trois fois, never trois temps.

Tous les and chaque

Tous les plus a plural noun and chaque plus a singular noun both mean every, and they're largely interchangeable.

tous les jours: every day
toutes les semaines: every week
chaque matin: every morning
tous les deux jours: every other day

Tous les deux jours means every two days, and the same pattern gives toutes les trois heures, every three hours.

The definite article for habits

Le plus a day of the week turns a single day into a recurring one.

Le lundi, je travaille chez moi.: On Mondays I work from home.
Il joue au tennis le samedi matin.: He plays tennis on Saturday mornings.
Le magasin est fermé le dimanche.: The shop is closed on Sundays.

Without the article the meaning changes to a single occasion: il vient lundi means he's coming this Monday.

Adverbs of Frequency FAQs

What are the French adverbs of frequency?: From most to least frequent: toujours (always), souvent (often), généralement and d'habitude (usually), parfois and quelquefois (sometimes), de temps en temps (from time to time), rarement (rarely), and ne… jamais (never).
Where do frequency adverbs go in French?: After the conjugated verb: je vais souvent au cinéma. In compound tenses the short ones go between the auxiliary and the past participle: j'y suis souvent allé. Longer phrases like de temps en temps go at the start or the end of the clause.
How do you say twice a week in French?: Deux fois par semaine. The count uses fois and the period uses par with no article at all: une fois par jour, trois fois par mois, quatre fois par an. Par la semaine is a common learner error.
What's the difference between le lundi and lundi?: Le lundi means on Mondays, as a habit; lundi on its own means this coming Monday or last Monday. So le magasin est fermé le dimanche is a general rule, while je pars dimanche is about one particular day.
Does rarement need ne like jamais does?: No. Rarement is a plain adverb, so il mange rarement du poisson keeps both the ne-free verb and the partitive du. Jamais is a negative and needs ne in front of the verb, and it reduces du to de: il ne mange jamais de poisson.