一、单个副词表示时间

　　1. 表示动作(事件)发生的时间

　　这类副词常见的有:ago, before, lately, later (on), now, recently, then, today, tomorrow, tonight, yesterday等。例如:

　　1)It’s beginning to rain now! (时间点)现在开始下雨了!

　　2)I haven’t seen her recently. (时间段) 最近我没见到她。

　　3)Will you be free tonight? (时间段) 你今晚有空吗?

　　4)See you later. (时间点)回头见。

　　2. 表示频度

　　这类副词常见的有:always, constantly, continuously, continually, ever, frequently, generally, hardly ever, much, never, normally, occasionally(偶尔), often, periodically(定期地,偶尔), rarely, regularly, repeatedly, seldom(很少), sometimes, usually, now and then(偶尔,有时)等。例如:

　　1)She is constantly changing her mind. (频度)她老是改变主意。

　　2)We do meet now and then, but not regularly. (频度)我们确实偶尔也见面,但不经常。

　　3)Lester rarely left his room. (频度)莱斯特很少离开他的房间。

　　3. 其他一些表示时间的副词:

　　主要有:already, early, finally, first, immediately, just, late, long, presently, shortly, since, soon, yet等。例如:

　　1)I’ll be back presently(shortly). 我一会儿就回来。

　　2)What decision did you finally arrive at?你们最后做出了什么决定?

　　3)Nancy was up early. 南希很早就起来了。

　　4)He has just had an operation. 他刚动过手术。

　　分析:

　　句1)中的presently (shortly)(不久,一会儿),强调从现在算起到将来的某一时刻,时间持续很短;句2)中的finally(最终)强调事件的最终结果;句3)中的early(早)表示动作发生的时间比通常所认定的时间早;句4)中的just表示从过去的某个时间算起到现在,时间持续很短。

　　二、前面带有介词in, at, on和for表示时间的短语

　　1. 带有介词in的时间短语:

　　in a flash(瞬时), in a lucky hour(在幸运时刻), in an evil hour(在不幸的时刻), in a minute, in a second, in a short time, in a while, in advance(预先), in an instant, in broad day(在大白天), in due course(及时地), in future, in good season(及时地), in no time(马上), in one’s childhood, in one’s spare time, in one’s teens, in one’s youth, in re-cent years, in some cases(有时候), in spring, in the beginning, in the daytime, in the end, in the long run(最后), in the meantime, in the morning, in the past, in this period, in those days, in time等。例如:

　　1)He was born in1980. 他生于1980年。

　　2)The policeman arrived intime and caught the thief in a flash. 警察及时赶到,瞬时抓住了那个小偷。