Revised as of
1 Jan 2023
This word confusion — some time vs sometime vs sometimes — seems easy, at first, to chat about, but then those differences between sometime and sometimes seem a bit minute.
Some time is easy enough, as it’s used to indicate a great length of time. To convey the impression that the event has gone on for ages. We talked for hours, the summit went on for days, he bored on forever *grin*.
Then we get to sometime. It’s almost dismissive. A one time or a now-and-then sort of feel.
Sometimes is more upbeat with its sense of every once in a while. As well, lol, it feels as though there’s a bit of a surprise in it when someone uses it.
I know that sometimes I go on and on about a word confusion, and at some times, I’m rather brief. That’s the nature of the wordplay — and my mood at the time!
There will be a sometime when I may actually come to an end with the confusions, but as I look over my list of still-to-comes, it will be some time before that end arrives.
You may want to explore “Some versus Sum“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Some Time | Sometime | Sometimes |
|---|---|---|
.jpg)
She Stood Like This For Quite Some Time by Spider.Dog from the United Kingdom and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
_waterfront,_sometime_before_1895.jpg)
Coquille (Oregon) Waterfront, Sometime Before 1895 by Mtsmallwood is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Sometimes You’re the Pitcher Plant, Sometimes the Bug by USCapitol is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Adjective | Adjective; Adverb | Adverb |
| Used when speaking about some thing that will last for a fairly long time
To refer to a fairly short period of time, don’t use some. Say a short time or use a few in front of a word such as hours or months. An impressive or large, considerable amount of time Duration |
Adjective: Former Occasional
Being so only at times or to some extent That cannot be depended upon regarding affections or loyalties Adverb:
[Archaic] At one time, formerly [Archaic] Sometimes
|
Occasionally rather than all of the time |
| Examples: | ||
| I need some time.
It was some time ago. I spent some time trying to convince her. We talked for some time. It will take some time, you know. You will be unable to drive for some time after the operation. |
Adjective: The sometime editor of the paper is something of a jerk. He was a sometime contributor. The diplomat was a sometime professor of history at Oxford. Traveling so much, he could never be more than a sometime husband. He was well rid of his sometime girlfriend. Adverb: Sometime after six everybody left. The Emperor Constantine used this speech sometime unto his bishops. He will arrive sometime next week. Come to see me sometime. |
Sometimes, I want to do things on my own.
Sometimes you amaze me. He sometimes goes to America. Sometimes he seems very forgetful. |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Unknown. | Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300.
Some is from Old English sum, is of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by the Greek hamōs meaning somehow and the Sanskrit sama meaning any, every. Time is from Old English tīma, of Germanic origin and related to tide, which it superseded in temporal senses. The earliest of the current verb senses (dating from late Middle English) is do (something) at a particular moment. |
It was first recorded between 1520–30; sometime + -s. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Some Time vs Sometime vs Sometimes
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: sometime, sometimes
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Traditional Phone Call at Midsummer Festival by Jeroen Komen in the lower left corner is distantly connected to Phone Call on Beach by Peter Drier (Flickr) — both are under the CC BY 2.0 license. Their opposing corner positions represent the distance of that conversation as Daniel B. Wood, Master of theBenjamin Tucker, doodles away during a voyage from 18 July 1849–1 June 1851 with this image provided by Internet Archive Book Images (with no restrictions). All three are via Wikimedia Commons.
