seldom
gb/sˈɛldəm/ us/sˈɛldəm/
B1
Inglese
~ 2000
Accezioni
0 accezioni
adverb
B1
property
1
Not happening often
Happening only a few times; not often.
Schema d'uso:
[someone] seldom [does something]
Errore comune:
Learners sometimes confuse 'seldom' with 'sometimes', but 'seldom' means much less frequent than 'sometimes'.
Sinonimi
rarely (Slightly more common in everyday speech than 'seldom'.)
|
infrequently (More formal and technical in tone than 'seldom'.)
Contrari
often (Indicates high frequency, the opposite of 'seldom'.)
|
frequently (Emphasizes regular or repeated occurrence, opposite of 'seldom'.)
Collocazioni
seldom seen
|seldom happens
|seldom used
|seldom mentioned
Temi
daily life
|time
|frequency
|core_vocabulary
Esempi
- I seldom go to the cinema these days.
- Good opportunities like this are seldom available.
- She seldom speaks in meetings, but when she does, everyone listens.
- That kind of bird is seldom seen in this region.
Esempi per chi studia
- I seldom eat out.
- He seldom visits his parents.
- We seldom play football on weekdays.
- It seldom rains here in summer.
Grammatica
Espressioni
seldom if ever
1/sˈɛldəm ˈɪf ˈɛvɚ/
fixed phrase
Almost never happens
Used to say that something happens very rarely, maybe never.
Esempi
- He seldom if ever takes a day off.
- Such mistakes are seldom if ever made by experienced chefs.
once in a blue moon
1/wˈʌns ˈɪn ə blˈu mˈun/
idiom
informal
Happening very rarely
Something that happens very rarely.
Esempi
- We go hiking together once in a blue moon.
- We go out for a fancy dinner once in a blue moon.
- He only eats dessert once in a blue moon.
- He calls me once in a blue moon, so I’m always surprised.
once in a blue moon
2/wˈʌns ˈɪn ə blˈu mˈun/
idiom
Happens very rarely
Something that happens only on rare occasions.
Esempi
- We go out for dinner once in a blue moon.
- He only calls me once in a blue moon.
once in a blue moon
3/wˈʌns ˈɪn ə blˈu mˈun/
idiom
Happening very rarely
Happening only one time in a long time.
Esempi
- We go out for dinner once in a blue moon.
- He visits his parents once in a blue moon.