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# often

«often» in Mova's school dictionary: **many times** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#m1)

2) «How often» asks how many times something happens in a time, like each day or week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#m2)

### 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

- How often does the bus come? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x1)
- She often reads before bed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x2)
- The bus comes every 15 minutes, so how often in an hour? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x3)
- We often go to the beach in summer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x4)
- How often do you brush your teeth? Twice a day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x5)
- It often rains in Ireland. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x6)
- Every so often, a shooting star crosses the sky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x7)
- Dogs often wag their tails when they are happy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x8)
- False confidence often leads to disaster. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/#x9)

### 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

- [Night shifts mean working through the night and sleeping in the day; nurses, drivers, bakers and warehouse workers often do them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/2-shifts-nights-and-other-ways-of-working/6/)
- [Job hunting means searching adverts and sending applications, often dozens before getting anywhere; many get no reply at all.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/3-finding-a-job-and-getting-on/5/)
- [Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/3-finding-a-job-and-getting-on/7/)
- [Payday is the day pay arrives in the bank, often once a month, so money is usually lowest just before it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/5-where-money-comes-from/6/)
- [Rent is often a family's biggest bill, so when it goes up, other spending has to shrink.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/6-paying-for-a-home-and-the-bills/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «often» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/often/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.