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week_4_time

The document covers the concepts of time-when, frequency, and duration in language, focusing on the use of prepositions, adverbials, and expressions related to time. It explains how to express time using various adverbials, omitting prepositions, and understanding relative time expressions. Additionally, it discusses duration phrases and adverbs of frequency, providing examples and tasks for practice.

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13 views

week_4_time

The document covers the concepts of time-when, frequency, and duration in language, focusing on the use of prepositions, adverbials, and expressions related to time. It explains how to express time using various adverbials, omitting prepositions, and understanding relative time expressions. Additionally, it discusses duration phrases and adverbs of frequency, providing examples and tasks for practice.

Uploaded by

68p4tn928h
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Time-when, frequency, and

duration
Week 4
Today’s class
u Time-when
u Prepositions of time
u At, on, in and during
u Omitting the preposition
u Relative time expressions: before, after, by.
u Ago and from now
u Adverbs of time
u Duration
u For
u Omitting for: I’ll be at home all day
u Other uses of prepositions meaning duration
u Frequency
u Adverbs of frequency
u Being more precise about frequency
Time-when
Notions of time-when are expressed either by tense, aspect, and
auxiliaries, or adverbials.
In our lecture today, we will learn how to use adverbials to express
notions of time-when.
Time-when adverbials answer the question ‘When?’

.
The adverbial can be of a number of types:

She phoned on Thursday. (Preposition of time-when)


Jennifer’s coming to lunch next week. (Omitting the preposition)
Twelve months ago he found himself without a job. (Time expression+ ago, back, etc.)
They fixed the radiator yesterday. (Adverbs)
Prepositions of time-when
At, on, in, during and between:
u At is used for points of time, and on, in and during for periods of time.
u In general, on is used for days, and in or during for periods longer or shorter than a day:

Clock time: at 10 o’clock, at 6.30 p.m.


Parts of the day: at night, at noon, at the end of the day, at the stroke of midnight.
Days: on Sunday, (on) the following day
Other periods: in/during the morning/April/the nineteenth century
In/during (the) spring/2002/the Stone Age
More examples:
Her father arrived home at six o’clock.
A meeting will be held at 12.45 p.m. in the Committee Room.
We’re going to the cottage on Sunday.
In the summer, roses climb the walls
Many varieties of shrubs blossom during/in April and May.

u Between is used for periods identified by their beginning and ending points:
Between 1918 and 1939, many people in the West lost their faith in democracy.
Omitting the preposition

u We almost always leave out the preposition before phrases


beginning last, next, this, that, before today, yesterday,
tomorrow:
He enjoyed coming out with us X last Saturday.
X Next time you’re in town, phone me at this number.
We can’t afford to go abroad X this year.
See you X tomorrow!
Relative time expressions: before, after, and by.
u Relative time expressions are phrases that describe the timimg of events in
relation to other events or points in time, rather than specifiyong a fixed point in
time.
u Before: Indicates that an event occurs earlier than another event:
Before she had gone very far, she heard a noise.
u After: Suggests that an event takes place following another event:
The service was so much better after the war.
u Before and after have opposite meanings, so the following are equivalent:
She arrived after the play started = The play started before she arrived

u By identifies a time when the result of an event should happen or be completed:


You need to submit your application by Friday.
Please send me the tickets by next week.
Ago and from now
u Ago is an adverb used to indicate how much time has passed between a
specific event or action in the past and the the present moment.
u Ago following an expression of time, such as, minutes, hours, days, months,
years, means ‘before now’.
Example:
We met a year ago = We met a year before now
u For a similar measurement of distance into the future, we use (1) time
expression + from now, or (2) in + time expression, or (3) in + time expression +
’s + time:
Adverbs of time

u Just (= ‘at this very moment’), now, nowadays (=‘these days’), then (= ‘at that
time’), today,

Examples:
The show is just starting.
Prices in the UK are now the second lowest in Europe.
She’s not in town much nowadays.
She wasn’t at home then.
I have a meeting today.
u Task one **
u Add time-when adverbials to the sentences below, giving them
end-position and using the most appropriate connecting
preposition where necessary.
1. Western society changed profoundly. (the 1960s)
2. British-born actor Sir A lec Guinness died. (5 August)
3. Two people were killed in an accident on the nearby
motorway. (last Friday)
4. A system of voluntary schools developed. (the 19th century)
5. Have you ever visited Paris? (night)
u Task one (answers)
1. In the 1960s;
2. on 5 August;
3. last Friday;
4. in the 19th century;
5. at night;
Duration: for
Phrases of duration answer the question ‘How long?’
Compare:

[A] When did you stay there? [B] In the summer. (TIME-WHEN)
[A] How long did you stay there? [B] For the summer. (DURATION)

The phrase in the summer here indicates that the stay


was included in the summer period. The phrase for the
summer indicates that the stay lasted as long as the summer
period.
Omitting for: I’ll be at home all day
For must be omitted before all:
u I’ll be at home all day today.

u Note with the verbs spend, take and waste, for is never used:
We spent two weeks at the seaside.
It took me three hours to finish the job.
Other uses of prepositions meaning
duration

u Over can be used instead of for for short periods such as holidays:
Examples:
We stayed with my parents over the holiday/weekend.
She had such an unhappy time over Christmas.

u From ... to identify a period by its beginning and end: from nine to five; from June to
December:
Example:
Hayek worked for the CIA from 1949 to 1970.
u Up to often specifies that the longer period does not include the period named:
Example:
He worked up to Christmas. (i.e. but not over Christmas)
u Task two **
u Replace the underlined part in each of the following sentences by an
adverbial of duration expressing (roughly) the same meaning.

uExample: I stayed in Scotland from Monday morning to Sunday evening.


⇒ I stayed in Scotland for a week.

1. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918.


2. It was quite obvious that we couldn’t wait eternally.
3. I haven’t been feeling too well in the past few weeks.
4. We stayed on the Bahamas until the day before Easter.
u Task two (answers)
1. for four years;
2. forever;
3. for a few weeks;
4. up to Easter
Frequency
u Expressions of frequency answer the question ‘How many times?’ or ‘How often?’

Adverbs of frequency:
- Always: 100% of the time (e.g., She always arrives on time.)
- Usually: most of the time, around 80-90% (e.g., He usually takes the bus to work.)
- Often: more than half of the time, around 60-70% (e.g., They often go for a walk after
dinner.)
- Sometimes/ Occasionally : around 50% of the time, neither often nor rarely (e.g., I
sometimes read a book before bed.)
- Rarely/Seldom: not often, around 10-20% (e.g., She rarely watches TV.)
- Never: 0% of the time (e.g., I never smoke.)
u Adverbs of frequency must appear before the verb in the sentence.
Being more precise about frequency
More exact measurement of frequency can be expressed in one of the
following three ways:
1. Expressions with (once/twice/three…):
Once a day , three times an hour, several times a week
Examples: They ate only once a day I go to the office five times a week.

2. Expressions with every:


Every day(=once a day), every morning, every two years, every
other day:
Examples: We went for long walks every day.

3. Daily(=once a day), hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly. Daily, weekly, etc.


can act as adjectives as well as adverbs, notice the equivalence of:
Examples:
Adverb Adjectives
I read newspaper daily. A daily newspaper.
She is paid monthly. A monthly magazine.
u Task three **
u Replace the expressions of frequency in the following sentences
by alternative adverbials having more or less the same meaning.
1. I’ve met this famous comedian several times.
2. I used to see Mum every two days.
3. Even hardened soldiers sometimes become sentimental.
4. I go to the sauna once a month.
5. I’ve been to the United States many times.
6. Our neighbors have a barbecue most weekends.
7. Mr. Smith travels abroad on very few occasions.
u Task three (answers)
1. I’ve often met this famous comedian.
2. I used to see Mum every other day.
3. Even hardened soldiers occasionally become sentimental.
4. I go to the sauna monthly.
5. I’ve frequently been to the United States.
6. Our neighbours have a barbecue almost every weekend.
7. Mr. Smith seldom/rarely travels abroad.
Thank you!

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