Sometime、Sometimes和Some Time 辨析

⊙ By dictionary.com

Sometime、Sometimes和Some Time 辨析

Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time

⊙ By dictionary.com

Sometime、sometimes和some time就像是三胞胎，樣子長得像，聽起來相差不大，而且含義都跟時間有關。你是不是也曾被它們迷惑？別著急，現在就教你幾招！

While they appear very similar, sometime, sometimes, and some time have slightly different meanings. Sometime means a vague[不明確的]point in time, and usually refers to a long amount of time. Sometimes means occasionally. Some time refers to a period of time.

● sometime: 指某個不確定的時間

● sometimes: 指偶爾

● some time: 指一段時間

Sometime

Sometime refers to an unspecified point in time. It functions as an adverb, and is also synonymous[同義的]with someday, one day, or sooner or later. Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives[形容詞], and other adverbs.

For example, in The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah uses sometime to refer to an indefinite[不確定的]time in the night: “As usual in the hot summer months, Sophie had kicked the coverlet[床罩]to the floor sometime in the night.”

Sometime can also be an adjective that means occasional, but this use of the word is rare. For instance, one could say “He’s her sometime employee,” which implies[暗示]that he only works for her on occasion.

Sometime是副詞，修飾動詞、形容詞和其他副詞；指未說明、不具體的時間。

Sometimes

Sometimes is a very common adverb that means occasionally or now and then. For instance, Kazuo Ishiguro uses sometimes in The Buried Giant: “She and Beatrice went on conferring[交談]in low voices, sometimes glancing towards the crowd, sometimes at Axl.”

Sometimes is an adverb of frequency, which is an adverb describing how often something happens. Some other adverbs of frequency are always, never, usually, and rarely. Sometimes is somewhat[有點]special in that it can go at the front, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence. For example, you can say “Sometimes he stays up late,” “He sometimes stays up late,” or “He stays up late sometimes.” The position of other adverbs of frequency tends to be more restricted.

Sometimes是副詞，指偶爾，不時；這是一個表達頻率或表明事情發生是否頻繁的詞；可放在句首、句中或句尾。

Some Time

The two-word expression some time means a period of time or quite a while. Some is an adjective describing the noun time. For example, in Girl at War, Sara Novic uses some time to describe a period of time of an unknown length: “‘I think we need some time apart.’ When I saw the words reflected on his face I wished I hadn’t said them.”

In the following example from The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah uses some time to imply quite a while: “It looked like no one had been in this apartment for some time. Probably not since that day Papa had left to save Isabelle.” The implication[含義]is that a large amount of time had lapsed since anyone had been inside the apartment. Whereas Novic uses some time to mean an unspecified period of time, in this example Hannah uses some time to suggest a long time.

Some time指一段時間，通常指不算短的時間，但時間長度不確定。