Sometimes vs Sometime vs Some Time: What's the Difference? - Speak English by Yourself

You are an English as an additional language learner. You may occasionally find some words that are very similar but you notice that they don’t have the same (or at least similar) meanings. For example, Sometimes vs Sometime vs Some Time. What are the differences among these words? Find it out in this article!

Which is correct Sometimes or Sometime?

Both words are correct.

However, they have different meanings.

Sometimes is an adverb of frequency. It means occasionally, rather than all of the time; now and then. It belongs to the same group of words and expressions such as never, hardly ever, seldom, rarely, occasionally, often, and always.

Therefore, you use sometimes in the same context you would use one of those words and expressions of frequency.

I never* drink coffee.*	I sometimes* drink coffee.*
You hardly ever* work out.*	You sometimes* work out.*
He is seldom* tired.*	He is sometimes* tired.*
She rarely* goes to work by bus.*	She sometimes* goes to work by bus.*
It occasionally* stops working properly.*	It sometimes* stops working properly.*
We often* work overtime.*	We sometimes* work overtime.*
They always* call us.*	They sometimes* call us.*

Sometime can be an adverb or an adjective. As an adverb, it means at an unspecified or unknown time. As an adjective, it means former or occasional.

We should meet again sometime (adverb meaning at an unspecified or unknown time).

The sometime president imposed sanctions on the countries involved in the war (adjective meaning former).

The sometime donator impressed everybody by giving the institution a large amount of money (adjective meaning occasional).

Sometime vs Some Time – One or Two Words?

Again, both words are correct but they have different meanings.

Sometime, as you can see above, can be both an adverb and an adjective meaning at an unspecified or unknown time (adverb) and former or occasional (adjective).

Some Time is a two-word expression that means a period of time of unknown length.

It seems no one has lived in this apartment for some time (for a period of time that is not known exactly).

Sometimes vs Sometime vs Some Time: Examples

Here are some real-life examples of these words. Pay attention to their meaning in context.

Sometimes I run. Sometimes I hide. Sometimes I’m scared of you. (Sometimes, by Britney Spears)

Harry didn’t see how he could – yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling).

Who you think, or have read, or have believed to have been there, sometime, in some era, in some century, in some era before and after the ways in which we divide eras, are all gone (The Telegraph Online).

Toronto police say following an autopsy report conducted on the human remains found in a dumpster on Monday, they belong to a little girl who has been dead since sometime in 2021 (Global News).

Please don’t call my phone, I need some time (Some Time, by Russ).

The pontiff, who has been suffering from pain in his right knee for some time, was wheeled into the Paul VI hall in Vatican city for a meeting with nuns and mother superiors from around the world (The Guardian).