Sometimes vs. Sometime: The Difference in English

Did you know that sometime and sometimes are different words and have different meanings in English? Here is a simple explanation of the difference:

1) Sometimes

"I sometimes eat pork."

Meaning = you eat pork two or three times a week.

You don't always eat pork (always = 100%, or 7 days a week), and you don't never eat pork (never = 0%, or 0 days a week). You eat it sometimes (sometimes = 40-50%). Sometimes is an adverb and it tells you how often something happens. How often does it rain in Toronto? It sometimes rains in Toronto. It rains about two or three times a week.

Most students know how to use sometimes. The next word, sometime, is more difficult.

2) Sometime (with no 's' at the end of the word)

"John wants to visit Belgium sometime."

Meaning = John wants to visit Belgium but he doesn't know when he will go.

In this sentence, sometime means an unspecified or unknown time. John wants to visit Belgium but he doesn't know exactly when. But he wants to go sometime. Sometime is also an adverbIt has a similar meaning to one day. John wants to visit Belgium one day in the future (but he doesn't know what day).  

Let's look at another example.

"Sometime on Sunday, someone stole my camera."

Meaning = Someone stole my camera on Sunday but I don't know at exactly what time.

This is similar to the first example but we are talking about the past. You know your camera was stolen on Sunday, but you don't know when. It happened at an unknown time. It happened sometime on Sunday.

So, we can use sometime to talk about unspecified or unknown times in the past or future.

Do you think you understand?

Try this sometimes vs sometime quiz:

After school, I  go to my friend Peter's house. His house is close to our school. I want Peter to come to my house , but my house is far away. I don't like my house. My father said we'll move , but he didn't say when. My house has many problems. My father built the house  before I was born. He's not a good builder. When it rains,  water comes into my basement.  

Answers

After school, I sometimes go to my friend Peter's house. His house is close to our school. I want Peter to come to my house sometime, but my house is far away. I don't like my house. My father said we'll move sometime, but he didn't say when. My house has many problems. My father built the house sometime before I was born. He's not a good builder. When it rains, sometimes water comes into my basement.

I hope this was helpful. If you want, please write a sentence using sometimes and sometime in the comments area below!

- Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

EnglishCurrent is happily hosted on Dreamhost. If you found this page helpful, consider a donation to our hosting bill to show your support!

17 comments on “Sometimes vs. Sometime: The Difference in English

  1. Rahul (Posted on 3-25-2014 at 10:01) Reply

    Nice way to explain. The quiz part helps to understand better.

  2. kirti (Posted on 7-29-2014 at 01:47) Reply

    Sometimes it’s nice to learn grammar like this.
    Sometime I would like to meet you .
    Thank you so much it’s a great help.

    1. mb (Posted on 7-29-2014 at 08:09) Reply

      Well done!

      1. Mahmoud (Posted on 3-12-2020 at 17:13) Reply

        Nice job so helpful

    2. Chrus1324 (Posted on 10-30-2019 at 11:56) Reply

      This is a good explanation and well done

  3. mizouri amel (Posted on 10-16-2016 at 03:41) Reply

    very clear thanks a lot

  4. puchu (Posted on 11-2-2016 at 05:38) Reply

    What would be accurate
    Sometimes i wish i was dead
    Or
    Sometime i wish i was dead

    1. mb Post author (Posted on 11-2-2016 at 14:14) Reply

      “Sometimes I wish I was/were dead.” This describes the present.

  5. Hello Kitty (Posted on 12-4-2016 at 19:07) Reply

    I sometimes get confused about word choice and grammar. I am planning to take an English course sometime next year.

  6. Anonymous (Posted on 4-17-2018 at 05:40) Reply

    Explained clearly..thanks a lot

  7. Khan Sahil (Posted on 5-1-2018 at 21:12) Reply

    I sometimes go to visit to my grandfather but I always find him extremely busy. So I hope sometime I would talk to him heart to heart.

    1. mb Post author (Posted on 5-2-2018 at 01:22) Reply

      Correct, except you don’t need ‘to’ after visit. Also, after ‘hope’, there’s no reason to use ‘would’ (hope is not conditional). Instead, it’s more natural to say ‘I hope I can talk to him heart to heart sometime.’

  8. Juliana Mariusso (Posted on 4-9-2019 at 20:29) Reply

    I sometimes go out in the evening, but not every day.
    Wouldn’t it make more sense to use ALWAYS instead of SOMETIMES? Thanks a lot in advance.

    1. mb Post author (Posted on 4-9-2019 at 20:49) Reply

      I don’t think so. If it’s not always (100%), then you shouldn’t use always.

  9. Anonymous (Posted on 4-14-2019 at 05:21) Reply

    Choosing between sometimes and sometime may be difficult, but through this one.I was able to.Thanks,Guys!

  10. NAFISA (Posted on 2-18-2021 at 09:22) Reply

    Sometimes I don’t like to wake up early. But sometime I like to wake up early.

  11. Anonymous (Posted on 2-8-2022 at 06:20) Reply

    you don’t never eat pork

    There are two negatives in the sentence.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *