In this article, i will compare some time vs sometime. Sometimes vs some time vs sometime whats the difference. The paperback of the grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by mignon fogarty at barnes. Whenever someone starts talking or i start reading about adjectives, adverbs. I will include sentence examples for each word to illustrate its. Grammar girl also makes mistakes sometimes and lets errors slide by.
Sometime vs some time vs sometimes grammar confusion. Some time is the choice when a preposition comes before it or a helping word follows it. There is no lost rule or word that fogarty mourns, and she wont weep if. Learn english difference between some time, sometime. Grammar girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammarbut shes. If you are using it as an adverb, sometimes is the better choice.
Lets get dinner and reminisce over depeche mode sometime. Thus, if you are using the word as an adjective, sometime is the only choice. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and. How can i figure out when to use some time, sometime, or. You can easily see the difference between these two words by contrasting their two senses in sentences otherwise identical. Mignon is the author of the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing and six other books on writing. Learn english with lets talk free english lessons 67,438 views 10. May 24, 2020 tips and articles from the grammar girl website. How can i figure out when to use some time, sometime, or sometimes. The adverb sometime one word means at an indefinite or unstated time in the future. Sometime sometime refers to an unspecified point in time. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
So next time you write a blog post, whether its a guest post or for your own site, check it over for. It functions as an adverb, and is also synonymous with someday, one day, or sooner. The phrase some times and the compound sometimes are different parts of speech, so you will need to know when to use each. But yes, sometimes grammar can be a little confusing. Some time can be replaced with an equivalent phrase like a short time, a long time, but sometime cannot, e. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a five time winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. But yes, you might want to study it sometime in the future if you set aside some time, you will understand everything in no time at all the basic meanings of these three sometimes confusing words can be defined like this. Sometimes, sometime, and some time mean different things. When some is used adjectivally with time to mean a short time, a long time, or an indefinite. The expression some time two words means a period of time. Grammar girl mignon fogarty on the biggest changes in language. Plenty of writers have trouble remembering how to use some time, sometime and sometimes.
Sometime means a vague point in time, and usually refers to a long amount of time. I had a hard time coming up with a way for people to remember the difference between its and its, and i ended up using a really complicated story about a dream i had involving the ebay it advertising campaign. After you read this article, though, you will know which one is which, and what they mean. You shudder at a split infinitive, know when to use that or which and would never confuse less with. The good news is that once you understand the difference between some time vs. Perhaps its ironic, but i have a hard time learning by just listening.
Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. While they appear very similar, sometime, sometimes, and some time have slightly different meanings. She has appeared as a guest on the oprah winfrey show and the today show and has been featured in the new york times, business week, the washington post, usa today, and more. You can learn about indefinite pronouns whenever you like. I think ill spend some time listening to that old depeche mode tape again. Two of them, sometime and some time, are adverbs that many writers get confused. Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes. Sometime and some time can both be adverbs, but only sometime is also an adjective.
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