What is the main difference between words sometimes and sometime? And how is “Some Time” used in this equation? Although sounds quite confusing but don’t get worried. After reading this article you’ll easily be able to spot difference between these three quite similar but confusing terms.
Sometime, sometimes and some time are three different words and denote different times and meaning and in order speak English correctly, you must be aware of the situation, where and when these words can be used. you can find below in detail that how sometimes, sometimes and some time differ from each other
1. Sometime
Sometimes is also a compound word that is made of the words “some” and “time”. However, this word has a quite different meaning than its cousin-words. This is the simplest of all words, which mean “occasionally”. It refers to the time when an event takes place now and then. For instance, you can say:
“Sometimes, he loves to take a nap with his boots on.”
Other Examples:
Following are some of the most prominent other examples of the word sometimes:
- Let us meet up together sometimes. We will have lots of fun.”
- Call me up sometimes. We will catch up on lots of things.
2. Sometime
Sometime is an adverb that suggests an unspecified event or period of time. For instance, a famous actress and comedian of the 1940s are famous for her quirky and funny line:
“Why Do You Not Come Up Sometime And Meet Me?”
So, sometime refers to the time that is not fixed or sharply mentioned. In a literal sense, the word “sometime” mean “at some point”. So, the adverb sometime does not refer to any span in time. Following is a good example of usage of the word sometime:
- I will finish that book sometime.
In this sentence, the reader is referring to a time when he will complete reading the book at some point in the future. In this sense, the word “sometime” is used for describing the events occurring in the future at some unspecified point in time. However, you can also use the word “sometime” for describing events occurring in past at some unspecified time. To refer to a past event, you can add “ago” with some time to describe such a situation.
So, you can use “at some point” or “someday” instead of the word “sometime” also. So, you can also say:
- I will finish reading that book at some point.
3. Some Time
Now, we are about to define the two words that make up sometime and sometimes compound words. In a literal sense, some time refers to a period of time. It does not refer to a short period of time, but a long period of time. For example, you can say:
“For some time, humans have discovered that Planet Earth has a round shape.”
In the above sentence, we have explained an event in which humans have discovered the shape of the earth a long time ago. Here is another example:
“It will take some time to complete the project on the deadline.”
In the above example, we have also referred to it as “long time” before the team can complete the project.
Bottom Line
You must never use sometimes, sometimes and some time interchangeably. All of these words have different meanings and should only be used in an appropriate context.
