How long, How often

How long

 

We use for to say how long:

We have been waiting for twenty minutes.
They lived in Manchester for fifteen years.

We use since with the present perfect or the past perfect to say when something started:

I have worked here since December.
They had been watching since seven o’clock in the morning.

We use from …to/until to say when something starts and finishes:

They stayed with us from Monday to Friday.
We will be on holiday from the sixteenth until the twentieth.

How often

 

The commonest adverbials of frequency are:

always	never	normally	occasionally	often
rarely	seldom	sometimes	usually

We usually put adverbials of frequency in front of the main verb:

We often spend Christmas with friends.
I have never enjoyed myself so much.

but they usually come after the verb be:

He was always tired in the evening.
We are never late for work.

We use the adverbial a lot to mean often or frequently. It comes at the end of the clause:

We go to the cinema a lot.

but before another time adverbial:

We go to the cinema a lot at the weekend.

We use much with a negative to mean not often:

 We don’t go out much. (= We don’t go out often)

We use how often or ever to ask questions about frequency. How often comes at the beginning of the clause:

How often do you go to the cinema?
How often have you been here?

ever comes before the main verb:

Do you ever go to the cinema at the weekend?
Have you ever been there?

Longer frequency phrases, like every year or three times a day usually come at the end of the clause:

I have an English lesson twice a week.
She goes to see her mother every day.