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Adverbs of Frequency 

​How often did or does or can something happen (action) or exist (state)? (//) 

 Or could something be expected to happen or exist?  

always 
usually 
often 
sometimes 
rarely 
​never 

I always take the bus to school. / to work. / when I go somewhere too far to walk. 
You usually take the bus to school. / to work. / when you go somewhere too far to walk. 
She/He/They often takes/take the bus to school. / to work. / when she/he/they goes/goes/go somewhere too far to walk. 
We sometimes take the bus to school. / to work. / when we go somewhere too far to walk. 
You rarely take the bus to school. / to work. / when you go somewhere too far to walk. 
They never take the bus to school. / to work. / when they go somewhere too far to walk. 

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Sprouts 

(//) Parallel grammatical structure 
How often did or does or can something happen? 

Reduction of three parallel phrases* into words
(A phrase* is a group of words that go together.) 
​​

did or does or can something happen 
​
did something happen 
does something happen 
can something happen 

Source

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​
​"happen"
​in the active voice

Note the extra use of the coordinating conjunction "or" to create rhythm since the verbs are each one stressed syllable. 

     How often did or does or can something happen? 

This should create some pleasure in saying and/or hearing the sentence out loud, for it allows for iambic pentameter, what some have argued is the "natural" or "usual" meter in which English prefers to be spoken. 

"Or" is a function word. In rare cases, a function word might be stressed/emphasized, but usually function words are not stressed, and even get reduced to /schwa (ə)/. [Scroll down to read more about "Schwa (ə)​".] 

The addition of an extra "or" also slows down the sentence without taking away any of the bounce in the words, but actually adds some bounce into the words. 

Alternative [standard use of "or" as a coordinating conjunction to list items, appearing before the last item in a list]: 

     How often did, does, or can something happen? 

If you say this sentence out loud, you may notice that it is much faster, and therefore potentially more difficult to hear and process. For public speaking purposes, you might choose to add in an extra "or" as in the first sentence version above to give your audience a little more time to absorb what you're asking. 

speak         spoke          spoken 
awake        awoke         awoken 
write          wrote           written 
take            took              taken 
begin          began           begun 
choose       chose           chosen 
give            gave              given 
happen      happened     happened 

​pleasure: 
"a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment." (Oxford) 

iambic pentameter 

˘ ' | ˘ ' | ˘ ' | ˘ ' | ˘ ' | 

Each line of iambic pentameter
= 
10 syllables (5 iambs / iambic feet)
1 iamb / iambic foot = 2 syllables
5 (penta-) meter = 5 feet / 10 syllables 
iambic pentameter = 5 iambic feet / 5 iambs 

unstressed, stressed; unstressed, stressed; unstressed, stressed; unstressed, stressed; unstressed, stressed 

​one iamb (˘ ') (a.k.a. one iambic foot) (˘ ') 
= 
unstressed (˘), stressed (') 

penta-:
A prefix meaning 5 / five; having five
(from Greek pente) (Oxford) 

meter: Read more about "meter" and "iambic pentameter" at literarydevices.net/meter/. 

Tips on "Schwa" (ə) 

"Schwa", which is represented by the symbol "ə", 
does not sound like its name at all. Rather, / Instead,
it is the reduced sound which any vowel can become,
​and which some consonants can become, too.​

​Examples of "schwa" (ə) in vowels: 
celebration
gratitude 
perseverance 
support 
​acceptance 
​​

​Examples of "schwa" (ə)​ in consonants: 
​rhythm 
amply:
- Can be pronounced without "schwa" as only 2 syllables: 
   /ˈam/plē/) 
- With schwa (ə), it's 3 syllables: 
   pronunciation: /ˈam/pə/lē/ 

Examples of function words that are often pronounced with the schwa (ə) vowel sound: 
the, a, or, and, for, are, to, from, of, at, can 

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