sometime they

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "sometime they" is not correct in standard written English.
It seems to be a fragment and may be intended to mean "sometimes they," which is a correct expression. Example: "Sometimes they go to the park on weekends."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

25 human-written examples

Sometime they agree, sometimes they don't agree but don't really care, sometimes they do care but they understand, sometimes they yell, sometimes they completely melt down, sometimes they thank you (once).

The New York Times

"Sometimes they're brothers and sometime they're bros and sometime they're jilted lovers.

Huffington Post

Sometime they are good friends and sometimes they are not good friends.

Huffington Post

Sometimes respondents felt that they wanted to avoid talking about their loss and sometime they wanted to talk about it.

BMC Women's Health

But after sometime they would leave the game.

The New York Times

("Sometime they will disappear," Ms. Clemente said. "But you know they are in someone's house").

The New York Times

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

32 human-written examples

The child they trusted had sometime along they way begin to deceive them and the slight of hand was never noticed.

Huffington Post

Sometime after they had left Aztlán, they united with a second group made up of nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Mexica, and took on their name.

Encyclopedia Britannica

It is after sometime, when they become medium sized, that they start looking at a vision of what they want to be.

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

If they talk about hanging out with you sometime and they don't call about it, no worries, they forget things too.

WikiHow

"Whether or not they want to admit the genocide, today or tomorrow or sometime soon, they will do it," he said of the Turkish government.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Always use "sometimes" instead of "sometime" when indicating that something occurs occasionally. "Sometime" refers to an unspecified point in time, while "sometimes" denotes frequency.

Common error

Avoid using "sometime" when you mean "sometimes". "Sometime" refers to an unspecified time in the future, whereas "sometimes" indicates an occasional occurrence. For instance, say "Sometimes they visit" instead of "Sometime they visit".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "sometime they" functions incorrectly as an adverbial modifier intended to express frequency. Ludwig AI points out that it is not grammatically correct in standard written English, because the correct form is "sometimes".

Expression frequency: Missing

Frequent in

Science

0%

News & Media

0%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Science

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News & Media

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Formal & Business

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Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "sometime they" is generally considered grammatically incorrect. Ludwig AI highlights that "sometime" should be replaced with "sometimes" to properly indicate that an action occurs occasionally. Alternatives such as "occasionally they" or "at times they" can also be used. It is important to use "sometimes" in both formal and informal writing to ensure grammatical correctness and clarity.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

sometimes they

Corrects the grammatical error of using "sometime" instead of "sometimes" to indicate occasional actions.

occasionally they

Replaces "sometime" with "occasionally" to convey the meaning of happening from time to time.

at times they

Uses "at times" to express that something happens periodically.

periodically they

Substitutes with "periodically" indicating actions occurring at intervals.

now and then they

Employs "now and then" to signify infrequent occurrences.

from time to time they

Replaces with "from time to time" to denote occasional actions or events.

once in a while they

Uses "once in a while" to express that something happens infrequently.

every so often they

Substitutes with "every so often" indicating actions that occur occasionally.

on occasion they

Replaces with "on occasion" to signify actions occurring sporadically.

irregularly they

Substitutes with "irregularly" indicating actions that don't happen at fixed intervals.

FAQs

What is the correct way to express occasional actions by a group?

The correct phrase is "sometimes they". "Sometimes" indicates that an action happens from time to time, unlike "sometime", which refers to an unspecified point in time.

What's the difference between "sometime" and "sometimes"?

"Sometime" refers to an unspecified time, as in "We should meet sometime next week". "Sometimes" indicates occasional occurrences, as in "Sometimes they go to the beach".

Can I use "sometime" to indicate frequency?

No, "sometime" cannot be used to indicate frequency. The correct term to use for indicating that something happens occasionally is "sometimes they".

What are some alternatives to ""sometimes they""?

Alternatives include "occasionally they", "at times they", or "from time to time they", depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.