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# seldom

«seldom» in Mova's school dictionary: **Not often; rarely: We seldom see snow here** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adverb (seldom)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Not often; rarely: We seldom see snow here. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#m1)

2) «Seldom, if ever» means almost never. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

A slightly formal word in books and exam passages; in speech people say «hardly ever» or «not often». In maths and data problems, an event that seldom happens has a low chance or probability. In stories: «The old man seldom left his house». Phrases: «seldom if ever», «very seldom», «seldom seen».

### examples

- It seldom rains in the desert. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x1)
- We seldom eat out because it costs a lot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x2)
- Owls are seldom seen in the day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x3)
- Snow is seldom, if ever, seen in this town. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x4)
- He seldom forgets his homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x5)
- A seldom event has a low chance of happening. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x6)
- Very seldom does she miss a match. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x7)
- Old Anthony seldom spoke of this place, but he thought of it all the more. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seldom/#x8)

### note

Adverb; usually goes before the main verb: «I seldom go». It already means «not often», so do not add «not». In formal style it can start a sentence with inverted order: «Seldom have I seen…». Similar: rarely, hardly ever. Opposite: often.

### In the corpora

- [Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbour's house; lest he be sated with thee, and hate thee.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.738/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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