English Teacher Melanie

Helping English learners move from the classroom into the real world!

  • Home
  • Vocabulary
  • Grammar
  • Study Tips
  • Reading

English Vocabulary: Sometimes, Sometime, and Some Time

January 14, 2013 by Melanie 12 Comments

Share
Tweet16
Share
16 Shares

English Vocabulary: Sometimes, Sometime, and Some Time | English Teacher Melanie

Sometimes, sometime, and some time are very different words so you need to be careful when you use them. These are words that even native speakers get confused with!

 

Sometimes

Sometimes is an adverb of frequency. Use sometimes to talk about how often you do something. Think of it as halfway between never and always.

Example sentences:

Sometimes I am so tired I can’t get out of bed!

He sometimes plays tennis instead of going to the gym.

We like to go to the beach on vacation sometimes.

Learn more: English Grammar: Adverbs of frequency

 

Sometime

Sometime (no s) is also an adverb. Use it to talk about an unspecified point in the future or an unspecified point in the past.

Example sentences:

We should get together for coffee sometime!

Sometime soon I would like you to clean your room!

The accident occurred sometime before 6pm.

 

Sometime (no s) is also an adjective in American English, but it is rarely used. You will probably never need to use it in conversation, but you may hear it. Use it to talk about what someone does or is sometimes.

Example sentences:

She’s a sometime babysitter.
(Sometimes she babysits. She doesn’t do it all the time. She babysits once in a while.)

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.
(This is a famous quote from an American football player and coach Vince Lombardi. It means that winning isn’t something that you do sometimes. It’s something that you do all the time!)

 

Some time

Some is used to talk about how much of the noun time you have or want. It’s like saying some food or some people:

Example sentences:

Do you have some time to check my essay?

She loves to spend some time in her garden.

Give me some time to think about it.

 

Some time is also used in a couple phrases.

The phrase for some time now means for a long period of time, not something that you just started recently.

We’ve been thinking about buying a house for some time now.

He has wanted a new car for some time.

The phrase in some time means in a long time.

I haven’t seen or heard from her in some time! What is she doing now?

 

Share
Tweet16
Share
16 Shares

Filed Under: Blog, Vocabulary Tagged With: adverbs, nouns

Comments

  1. aptunique says

    November 22, 2012 at 8:03 am

    very good, excellent, its very helpful.

    Reply
  2. chris says

    January 26, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Thank you so much for the useful explanation ! It helps a lot ! :D

    Reply
  3. kartik says

    April 11, 2013 at 10:32 am

    She fell asleep after sometime or sometimes

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      April 12, 2013 at 2:01 pm

      “She fell asleep after some time.”

      Reply
  4. Kris says

    April 20, 2013 at 6:06 am

    Thank a lot for enthusiasm about take the less for confusing.
    I hope all of you give more title than for get more knowledge.
    As always, Get respect for you.

    Reply
  5. Mark says

    October 3, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    What about this use of “sometime?”
    It may well seem from the outside to be a sometime odd institution.

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      October 8, 2014 at 6:54 pm

      “Somewhat” should be used instead:

      “It may well seem from the outside to be a somewhat odd institution.”

      = )

      Reply
  6. kainat batool says

    April 6, 2015 at 3:01 am

    beautiful ideas

    Reply
  7. Julio says

    February 27, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Teacher Melanie. Thanks. Very helpful.

    Reply
  8. Benedict Min says

    March 31, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    Miss, Melanie. Please, I hope I didn’t offend you by writing this.
    It is about Vince Lombardi quote. “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.” And you said this means “winning is something that you do sometimes. It’s something that you do all the time!”
    I think there is something missing or typo.
    It’s contradictory because if winning is an all the time thing then how this possibly means as your saying winning is something that you do sometimes.

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      March 31, 2017 at 10:22 pm

      You are absolutely correct, Benedict! Thank you for pointing out the typo! I have correct it now.

      Reply
  9. Amal Attaya says

    April 25, 2017 at 11:16 am

    Dear Melanie thanks a lot you very helpful and I benefit from all your articles

    Reply

Leave a Reply to chris Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Amazon Associates Disclosure

English Teacher Melanie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Read more about Amazon here.

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Amazon Disclosure

Copyright © 2025 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

16 Shares
Share
Tweet16
Share