Meaning & use
consecutively
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Meaning
adverbnot comparable
One right after the other in order, with nothing in between.
Grammar: Usually follows the verb or number: win three times consecutively.
Patterns
- for three days consecutively
- win consecutively
- numbered consecutively
The team won six matches consecutively.
The pages are numbered consecutively from one.
She worked four nights consecutively.
Common combinations
- win consecutively
- He won the championship three years consecutively.
- numbered consecutively
- Each ticket is numbered consecutively.
- run consecutively
- The two sessions run consecutively, not at the same time.
- days consecutively
- It rained for ten days consecutively.
- serve consecutively
- The judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in a row
- In a row is the everyday way to say it, while consecutively is more formal.
- successively
- Successively stresses following one after another, and the items do not have to be strictly adjacent.
- sequentially
- Sequentially focuses on a set order or sequence, not necessarily without gaps in time.
Opposites
Word family
- consecutive adjective
- following in unbroken order
- consecution noun
- a connected sequence (rare)
Commonly confused: consecutively or concurrently? consecutively or subsequently?
consecutively vs concurrently
Concurrently means at the same time, while consecutively means one after the other.
consecutively vs subsequently
Subsequently means afterward, without the idea of an unbroken series.
Practice
The two prison terms will be served ___, so the second begins only when the first ends.
Choose one answer.
Consecutively means one after another. Concurrently and simultaneously mean at the same time, which would contradict the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “consecutively”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.