VOA慢速英语2021--Sometimes, Sometime and Some Time

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher we answer a question from Phu in Vietnam.

Question:

When do we use "Sometimes", "Sometime" and "Some time?" What is the difference between them?

Phu, Vietnam.

Answer:

Dear Phu,

Thank you for writing to us. These words may look mostly the same. But they actually have different meanings and uses.

Sometimes

Let us begin with "sometimes." It is the simplest of the three because it only has one meaning. It means "at certain times." "Sometimes" is an adverb. So, it affects the meaning of the main verb in a statement.

Here's an example using "sometimes."

The children sometimes take their dog to the park to play.

Sometime

Now, let us move on to "sometime." This word can be an adverb or an adjective¹. As an adverb, it means "at an unspecified or unknown time in the past or future." Look at these examples:

The holiday party will be sometime in December.

Thieves stole my bicycle sometime last night.

As an adjective, you can use "sometime" to talk about what someone was in the past. It can also be used to describe what someone sometimes does in the present. Here is an example:

Singer Barbra Streisand is a sometime screenwriter and director.

You may hear "sometime" to describe a relationship with a friend or lover²:

Police questioned the victim's sometime lover about the events of the crime.

But in spoken American English, "sometime" is most often used as an adverb.

Some time

Finally, "some" and "time" can be separated. The two words can act as an adjective and a noun³. Although this expression can mean any length of time, it usually means "a long time," as in this example:

For some time, auto⁴ makers⁵ have worked to make cars safer.

What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at [email protected]

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Words in This Story

certain – adj. used to refer to something or someone that is not named specifically⁶

unspecified – adj. not named or mentioned

1 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

2 lover   

n.情人，恋人；爱好者

参考例句：

• Every lover sees a thousand graces in the beloved object.情人眼里出西施。
• Mr.Smith was a lover of poetry.史密斯先生是一名诗歌爱好者。

3 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。