Meaning & use
usually
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Meaning
adverbnot comparable
Describes what happens in most situations or on most occasions, so that the exception is unusual.
Grammar: Sits before the main verb (she usually walks) but after be (she is usually late).
Patterns
- usually do something
- be usually something
We usually eat dinner around seven, but tonight we are running late.
The bus is usually full by the time it reaches the university.
Rain is usually light here in September.
Common combinations
- usually the case
- Cheaper tickets sell out first, which is usually the case with concerts.
- as usual
- As usual, Marta arrived ten minutes before everyone else.
- usually involves
- The job usually involves some evening work.
- than usual
- The river is higher than usual after the storm.
- not usually
- I do not usually drink coffee after lunch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- normally
- Normally stresses what is expected under ordinary conditions, while usually simply reports how often something happens.
- typically
- Typically points to what is characteristic of a kind of thing or person, so it suits descriptions and generalizations better than personal habits.
- generally
- Generally describes a broad pattern across many cases and sounds a little more formal than usually when talking about your own routine.
- habitually
- Habitually is stronger and suggests a fixed personal habit, often a slightly negative one, which usually does not.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: usually or usual?
usually vs usual
Usual is the adjective (the usual route), while usually is the adverb (I usually take that route).
Practice
Choose the sentence with the adverb in the correct position.
Choose one answer.
With the verb be, usually goes after it: is usually late. Placing it before be, as in option 1, sounds wrong in ordinary statements.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “usually”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.