M03 mgl oth glb 6996 adv indd

always arrives
 by taxi and she 
is always
 on time.
If there is a modal or auxiliary verb we put the adverb after the (first) auxiliary (+ 
not
): 
We
’ve never
 been to the Greek islands. You 
can
 
just
 see the coast.
Sea eagles 
have occasionally
 been seen around Loch Lomond.
They 
don’t really
 understand my point of view.
!
We put 
sometimes
, 
still
, 
certainly
, 
definitely
and 
probably
BEFORE a negative auxiliary:
✗
I don’t sometimes understand his arguments. He hasn’t still convinced me.
✓
I 
sometimes don’t
 understand his arguments. He 
still hasn’t
 convinced me.
18
the thief entered the room 
silently
and 
carefully
opened the safe door.
M03_MGL_OTH_GLB_6996_ADV.indd 90
20/12/2011 15:15

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4
91
FORMALITy CHECK
In spoken British English, if we want to emphasise an auxiliary verb or 
a simple form of 
be
, we can put some mid-position adverbs before it. The auxiliary/verb is 
usually stressed: 
‘But I thought you liked him!’ ‘Oh, you 
really
 don’t understand me at all!’
‘Joe’s late. That’s strange’ ‘Not really, he 
never
 is on time!’
Compare:
I don’t really like him.
(unmarked: I slightly dislike him.) 
I really don’t like him.
(emphatic: I strongly dislike him.)
!
We do not use other time adverbs (definite time or frequency) in mid position:
✗
We yesterday bought our lunch at Joe’s sandwich bar.
✗
I once a month pay my rent.
But we can do this in news reports:
The Federal Reserve