2.1 An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Adverbial phrases
Listen to this teenager talking about the proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away".
Nursery Rhyme
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"An apple a day sends the doctor away Apple in the morning - Doctor's warning Roast apple at night - starves the doctor outright Eat an apple going to bed - knock the doctor on the head Three times a day, seven times a week - ruddy apple, ruddy cheek" |
Example exercise
In the previous nursery rhyme, several adverbial phrases to say how often something happens or should happen appear: "a day", "three times a day" and "seven times a week". So, there are other ways of expressing the frequency of actions. The normal position of these adverbs is at the end of the sentence (e.g. I play tennis every Saturday), although they can also be placed at the very beginning (e.g. Every Saturday I play tennis). Read the following examples:
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| By herr hartmanns C. Commons |
- Andrés's mother cooks lunch everyday.
- Paco and his father go fishing every weekend.
- Sonia goes jogging every Sunday.
- On Thursdays, Paco and Andrés play tennis.
- Paco's friends phone him daily.
- Sonia washes Paco's car once a week.
- Paco does the lottery weekly.
- Three times a month, Paco helps a Non-Governmental Organization.
- Juan eats some fruit from time to time.
So, some other adverbial phrases to express how often something happens or how often you do something are:
| once / twice / three times / four times ... | a |
day / week / month / year |
| daily / weekly / monthly / yearly / annually |
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| every |
morning / afternoon / evening day / week / month / year Monday / Tuesday ... /now and then / so often |
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| constantly / continuously | ||
| on |
Mondays / Tuesdays ... weekdays weekends |
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| again and again | ||
| from time to time / now and again |
Example exercise
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| By Bobby. C. Commons |
wash your face - make the bed - brush your teeth - go to the cinema - make a cake - do a favour - help people - practice sports - read a book - watch TV - eat fruit - have a sandwich - phone your relatives
Curiosity
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
This common proverb was first cited in England by 1893. It is said to come from the Welsh proverb "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread", which was popular in Pembrokeshire (Wales) and was first cited in print in 1866. Other variants of this proverb are: "An apple a day, no doctor to pay" (1898), and "An apple a day sends the doctor away" (1899).
Do you know any Spanish proverb to say it? The most common one seems to be "Una manzana cada día, de médico te ahorraría". Other variants are: "Una manzana cada día al médico alejado mantendría", "Una manzana cada día, mil médicos alejaría", and even "Una manzana cada día da salud y alegría".
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| By zoghal. C. Commons |
Although some people think proverbs are out of fashion, others think they are very useful and are not out of fashion as Wolfgang Mieder demonstrates in his book Proverbs Are Never Out of Season (Mieder Wolfgang, Proverbs are Never Out of Season: Popular Wisdom in the Modern Age. Oxford and New York: OUP, 1993).
As you have seen adverbs is an important part of speech. Let's see how adverbs are frequently formed in English.