Recursio
Lesson 37. Always, sometimes, hardly ever
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
adverbs of frequency: siempre, a veces, casi nunca
How often?
From “always” to “never”:
| siempre | always |
| normalmente | usually |
| a menudo | often |
| a veces | sometimes |
| casi nunca | hardly ever |
| nunca | never (lesson 17) |
Todos los días means “every day.” Día is masculine even though it ends in -a: el día, los días.
Where they go
You can put these expressions at the start of the sentence; some also work after the verb:
- Siempre desayuno en casa. / Desayuno siempre en casa.
- A veces ceno en el bar.
Todos los días usually goes at the end: Desayuno todos los días.
Nunca and casi nunca work as in lesson 17: before the verb, you don’t need no: Casi nunca miro el móvil. After the verb, put no in front of the verb: No miro nunca la televisión.
Breakfast and dinner
| Verb | Noun |
|---|---|
| desayunar — to have breakfast | el desayuno — breakfast |
| cenar — to have dinner | la cena — dinner |
Desayuno is both “breakfast” and “I have breakfast”: Desayuno a las ocho. — “I have breakfast at eight.”
Siempre desayuno en casa. — I always have breakfast at home.
A veces ceno en el bar. — Sometimes I have dinner at the bar.
Casi nunca miro el móvil. — I hardly ever look at my phone.
Desayuno todos los días. — I have breakfast every day.
No miro nunca la televisión. — I never watch TV.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Lucía Javier, ¿desayunas en casa? Javier, do you have breakfast at home?
Javier Normalmente sí. Un café y una tostada. Usually, yes. A coffee and toast.
Lucía Yo también. Siempre desayuno en casa. Me too. I always have breakfast at home.
Javier ¿Y la cena? ¿Cenas en casa? And dinner? Do you have dinner at home?
Lucía A veces. ¿Y tú? Sometimes. And you?
Javier Casi nunca. Ceno en el bar, pero los martes ceno en casa. Hardly ever. I have dinner at the bar, but on Tuesdays I eat at home.
Lucía ¿Y cocinas en casa? And do you cook at home?
Javier Sí, a menudo. ¡Soy cocinero! Yes, often. I'm a cook!
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you say “I always have breakfast at home”?
2. How do you say “I hardly ever look at my phone”?
3. How do you say “I have dinner at nine”?
4. How do you say “every day”?
Match each word with its translation
Build the sentence: “I always have breakfast at home”
Build the sentence: “Sometimes I have dinner at the bar”
What you can do now
- Say how often: siempre, a menudo, a veces, casi nunca
- Talk about breakfast: Siempre desayuno en casa.
- Talk about dinner: A veces ceno en el bar.
- Say every day: todos los días
Key phrases of the lesson:
Siempre desayuno en casa.
A veces ceno en el bar.
Casi nunca miro el móvil.
Day 37 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 38. With sugar, without sugar →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.