Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ do something, you do it whenever a particular situation occurs. If you ~ did something, you did it whenever a particular situation occurred.
Whenever I get into a relationship, I ~ fall madly in love...
She’s ~ late for everything...
We’ve ~ done it this way...
Always lock your garage.
? never
ADV: ADV before v
2.
If something is ~ the case, was ~ the case, or will ~ be the case, it is, was, or will be the case all the time, continuously.
We will ~ remember his generous hospitality...
He was ~ cheerful.
? never
ADV: ADV before v, ADV group
3.
If you say that something is ~ happening, especially something which annoys you, you mean that it happens repeatedly.
She was ~ moving things around.
= forever
ADV: ADV before v-cont
4.
You use ~ in expressions such as can ~ or could ~ when you are making suggestions or suggesting an alternative approach or method.
If you can’t find any decent apples, you can ~ try growing them yourself...
ADV: can/could ADV inf
5.
You can say that someone ~ was, for example, awkward or lucky to indicate that you are not surprised about what they are doing or have just done.
She’s going to be fine. She ~ was pretty strong...
ADV: ADV before v