Sometimes, sometime, and some time may look very similar, but each has a different meaning. You probably haven’t thought about it much (or at all), and you have likely used them correctly, but they can cause confusion.
Sometimes indicates a certain frequency with which something happens. It really means some of the time. For example:
Sometimes we go to the movies on Saturdays. (Some of the time we go to the movies on Saturday, and other times we don’t.)
Sometime, without the s, is different. It means at some certain point in time. For example:
Please come visit me sometime after I move .
I will be moving out of state sometime in September.
Some time is obviously two separate words and different from the other two. You pause between the two words when you correctly use some time. Some time means exactly that — a certain amount of time. For example:
Do you have some time to help me with my move?
I will have some time next week to meet with you.
To sum up:
Sometimes indicates frequency.
Sometime indicates a certain point in time.
Some time indicates an amount of time.
Sometimes I think that I might have some time to have fun sometime in the future when I don’t have a blog post to write!
(But, of course, I love writing these blog posts, so that was just an example!)
Great, when to put words together and when to let them be separate. Could you comment on in to/ into or all right/ alright?
Thanks, I love your blog. Donna
Hi Donna! Thank you! Yes, I have done both into and all right in previous posts, so just look at the older blog posts on the site! Let me know if you have any other suggestions for posts though.
Hi, I’m glad I” stumbled across” your comment on linkedin as I must admit, I’ve always misused sometime by splitting it into some time, thus bundling two meanings mistakenly into one! You learn something every day! Thanks for that!
You’re welcome! Hope you will subscribe to the blog for more tasty grammar nuggets! I generally post once a week.