How to use 常常、经常
Subject + 常常 / 经常 + Verb Phrase
常常 and 经常 both describe events that occur frequently. In their ordinary adverbial use, they appear after the subject and before the verb phrase, and many sentences allow either choice. Neither word specifies an exact interval or number of occurrences. Their meaning depends on what counts as frequent for the activity being discussed.
经常 is more flexible in some constructions: 不经常 naturally means not often, and 经常 can appear in expressions describing regular or recurring matters. 常常 is less natural under direct 不 negation; 不常 is the common shorter alternative. Keep negation scope clear, because often not doing something differs from not doing it often. Learn recurring modifier phrases separately from the basic frequency-adverb pattern.
Examples with pinyin and English
我常常收到垃圾短信。
I often receive spam texts.
你们经常加班吗？
Do you guys often work overtime?
他们常常吵架。
They often argue.
他经常不吃早饭。
He often skips breakfast.
What to remember
- Both normally precede the action.
- 不经常 and 不常 are useful negative forms.
- Frequency and negation order affect the meaning.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
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