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I've just used a sentence that I think was wrong:

グループ員はよくパブで飲みに行く.

The concern there is the yoku.

Where would the often/hardly/always/whatever actually go in this sort of sentence structure and why?

Is it グループ員はパブでよく飲みに行く or グループ員はパブで飲みによく行く?

Or was I right the first time?

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    Should be パブ or パブ, not で.
    – istrasci
    Aug 27, 2015 at 14:55
  • And 飲に行く, most likely.
    – user1478
    Aug 27, 2015 at 20:34
  • nomu/mi was a recreation error, I did use mi in my mail. Why ni/he not de though? The pub is where the drinking is happening and the going there is covered with the last ni iku no? Aug 28, 2015 at 7:29
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    I think パブに is an argument of 行く, which licenses a に locative, not a で locative. The intervening phrase 飲みに is an adjunct of purpose, describing why 行く is taking place.
    – user1478
    Aug 28, 2015 at 9:29

1 Answer 1

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In most of the cases よく should be put just before the verb:

コリアンレストランへよく行く。 I often go to the corean restaurant.

よくあるご質問 frequently asked questions

It sounds better. And when the verb is built with a noun, just before this noun:

日本語をよく勉強します。 I often study Japanese.

よく検索されるキーワード keywords that are often looked up

But you can also put よく at the beginning of the sentence:

新聞をよく読みます。 I often read the newspaper.

 よく新聞を読みます。 I often read the newspaper.

Here both are correct.

And sometimes you can find よく elsewhere in the sentence in order to emphasize a precise element:

子どもたちはよくテレビを見ます。 Children often watch TV.

But here it's correct because Japanese people say it like that. We are almost in the case of a verb built with a noun because the expression テレビを見る is so frequent that it has become almost undivisible. For the same reason, Japanese people will say:

このごろ、よく夢を見るんです。 These days, I often dream.

Indeed, 夢を見る has become a very usual expression.

In some sentences, placing よく anywhere will sound strange. If you don't know where to put よく, I recommend you to put it just before the verb.

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  • but what about occasions like my sentence where two verbs are present like my nomi ni iku? Have they combined into one so it must go before nomi or can it go before iku? Aug 28, 2015 at 7:31
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    @user2422320 Here are correct Japanese sentences that match your problem: 彼女がよく飲みに行きます。(my girlfriend often go to drink) 最近よくお酒を飲みに行く友達がいます。(these days, my friend often go to drink) 飲みによく行くのです。(the fact is that I often go to drink) As you can see, よく can be put before 行く, before お酒, and before 飲みに.
    – RotS
    Aug 28, 2015 at 8:07
  • ah, that's good, it just changes the emphasis ey Aug 28, 2015 at 9:10

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