sometimes vs. sometime

[nowall]

I was wondering what are main differences between 'sometimes' and 'sometime'?



Corrections are always welcomed!

[DAH]

Originally Posted by nowall

I was wondering what are main differences between 'sometimes' and 'sometime'? Corrections are always welcomed!

have you tried the dictionary look up under English definition in WR?

[slewis]

Hate to state the obvious, but (here goes)

sometime is singular (refers to a single unspecific time)

I hope to go to Italy sometime soon.

sometimes is plural (refers to multiple unspecific times)

Sometimes I go to Italy for my holidays.

Steve

[nowall]

Yes I did and I know what they mean, but I am still a bit confused as about the use. I mean in which context I should use one or the other one.

[nowall]

So singular / plural is the only difference about them, isn't it? If yes it's clear to me now. Thanks!

[jesnancy]

roughly,sometime has the meaning of one day in the future.
roughly,sometimes has the meaning of some days in usual time.
for example:
She sings perfectly and she will be a famous singer sometime in the future.
In the weekends,I go to shopping but sometimes I go to read in the library .
that's my opinion.

[Not being]

Hi Jesnancy

One day sounds not very ...... natural, though we all can understand what you want to convey. A certain moment in the future would do the job.

My opinion.

[jesnancy]

Originally Posted by Not being

Hi Jesnancy

One day sounds not very ...... natural, though we all can understand what you want to convey. A certain moment in the future would do the job.

My opinion.

yes ,I think "a certain moment" is better than "one day"

thanks for your correction.

[min300]

What about 1.' after sometime' and 2. ' after sometimes'?
I googled and I saw a lot of examples of both of them.
Which one is correct?

[Harry Batt]

For short stories and novels I follow a HarperCollins Handbook for Writers. Sometime is an adverb meaning "at an unspecified time";We should get together for lunch
sometime. Some time means a period of time---more than an instant":I need some time to think your offer over. Sometimes is an adverb meaning "now and again, at various times": I go to bed at eight o'clock."

[cycloneviv]

Googling really is definitely not the best way to find out whether something is correct in English! If you are going to use it, you need to read each result, not just look at the numbers, because often you will find that the words are being used in a way that is either incorrect or that does not make them into a "set phrase".

The first few results for "after sometimes" seem to be non-native English speakers using the word incorrectly, for example:

When i put kajal in my eyes ,it spread after sometimes....can u tell me guys what should i do to not spread

and

i have to restart it to open the files, but after sometimes, the error come out again..

Others have "after" at the end of one sentence or phrase and "sometimes" at the beginning of the next, which does not give you a correct phrase "after sometimes", for example:

... and for sometimes a few days after. Sometimes at the same time ...

After "Sometimes a Great Notion" was published in 1964, ...

I use this as meal replacement near exercise(sometimes before sometimes after, sometimes both!)

I can rule out every result on the first page as either correct usage but not actually creating the phrase "after sometimes" or incorrect usage.

As to the results for "after sometime", the entire first page of results are examples of incorrect usage, where "after some time" (meaning after a significant period of time) should have been used instead.

[Blues Piano Man]

Originally Posted by min300

What about 1.' after sometime' and 2. ' after sometimes'?
I googled and I saw a lot of examples of both of them.
Which one is correct?

Hi min,
I just googled both phrases. Yes, there are lots of hits. 60,000 for "after sometimes" and 250,000 for "after sometime." Here are several examples I found on just the first few pages:

After sometime runing well (hours, days) httpd's performance ...

Why is it that a woman's breasts dont produce milk after sometime??

She was really a great humanbeing with good nature. But after sometimes she tell me more about her and...

Finally, after sometime, we are now launching the DURAS Project

After sometime, it was found out that a boy with Turkish features was living in a Saudi family ...

i have to restart it to open the files, but after sometimes, the error come out again. how?


In everyone of those examples, the use of "sometime" or "sometimes" was simply a mistaken way of writing "some time" or "some times." It seems that this is a very common mistake.

There were also several instances of google simply finding phrases or sentences where one ended in "after" and the next started with "sometimes." For example: ...and for a few days after. Sometimes at the same time as the...

I did find one example of correct usage for "after sometimes." It's a sentence fragment which is apparently part of a resume:
Excellent troubleshooting skills and a creative attitude when going after sometimes tricky and mysterious problems.

So I'm guessing that there really is no such phrase (at least not a common phrase) as "after sometime" or "after sometimes." That seems like a pretty bold claim given the large number of google hits, so I'm prepared to be found in error.

Blues

[verbivore]

Have you tried using a dictionary? It's clearly explained in the dictionary, any dictionary.