often
part of speech
adverb (often, more often, most often; also oftener)
meaning for a pupil
1) Often means many times. If you often play, you play a lot. tree →
2) «How often» asks how many times something happens in a time, like each day or week. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths: how frequently something happens; «how often» asks about times per day or week; «every 15 minutes» answers it. In everyday life: habits and routines («I often walk to school»). In science: «how often» an event happens is its frequency. In stories: «as often as not», «every so often».
examples
- Such diagrams are often arranged so that the letter א Alef is across from ל Lamed, spelling the name אֵל El, God. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
- Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- must not be confused with Zain, Z ; and lastly Qoph, Q is very often replaced by K, which is hardly defensible as there is a true K in addition. ' 44. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- For as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest the head. (Prophets JER.48.27, JPS 1917) tree →
- He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be broken, and that without remedy. (Writings PRO.29.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and as often as he went in, he lay all night upon the earth. (Prophets 2SA.12.16, JPS 1917) tree →
- How often does the bus come? tree →
- She often reads before bed. tree →
- The bus comes every 15 minutes, so how often in an hour? tree →
- We often go to the beach in summer. tree →
- How often do you brush your teeth? Twice a day. tree →
- It often rains in Ireland. tree →
- Every so often, a shooting star crosses the sky. tree →
- Dogs often wag their tails when they are happy. tree →
- False confidence often leads to disaster. tree →
note
«How often» asks for a rate or number of times. Plain «often» carries no number. Trap: do not guess a number from «often». The «t» is often silent, but saying it is also correct. Order of frequency words: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
In the corpora
- For as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest the head.
- He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be broken, and that without remedy.
- Night shifts mean working through the night and sleeping in the day; nurses, drivers, bakers and warehouse workers often do them.
- Job hunting means searching adverts and sending applications, often dozens before getting anywhere; many get no reply at all.
- Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «often» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.