timeadverb

Time adverb, also called a temporal adverb, is a word that expresses time in relation to an event. It functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, by specifying when something happens or how long it lasts. Time adverbs answer questions of time, such as when, for how long, or in what sequence.

They can be single words such as now, today, yesterday, tomorrow, soon, early, late, already, yet, recently, or lately, or multiword phrases such as in the morning, at noon, after dinner, for a while, last year, next week. They may indicate a specific point in time (now, then), a time frame (today, this week), a duration (for a while, for two hours), or a sequence (before, after, subsequently, thereafter). In English, their position within a sentence is flexible: they can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, with placement often affecting emphasis or rhythm.

Time adverbs are used across tenses. For example, present simple: I am here now. Present perfect: She has already left. Past simple: We visited yesterday. They are distinct from other adverbs of manner or frequency, though some words can serve multiple temporal functions depending on context.

Notes on usage include awareness that context and intonation can shift meaning, particularly with words that also serve as other parts of speech. Time adverbs are a common tool for anchoring events in time, signaling shifts in focus, and clarifying the temporal frame of discourse.