Sometimes Meaning
/ˈsʌm.taɪmz/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advOn some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.
advOn a certain occasion in the past; once.
Sentence Examples
Sometimes he can be a strange guy.
Sometimes I can't help showing emotions.
Sometimes he has difficulty being articulate about his views.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He ____ visits his grandparents in the countryside, but only once a month.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Even the best students ____ make mistakes on their exams if they don't read the questions carefully.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sumtymes, somtymes, som tymes, equivalent to sometime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare West Frisian somstiden (“sometimes”), Dutch somtijds, somwijlen (“sometimes”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It is good that we sometimes be contradicted, and ill though of, and that we always bear it well, even when we deserve to be well spoken of : perfect peace and security cannot be had in this world."
— a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Agenda; or, Things to Be Done”, in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., volume III, London: Frederick Westley and A. H. Davis, published 1836, page 730:
"We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll."
— 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2020, page 55:
"In 16th and 17th century Britain, for example, women’s alopecia was sometimes interpreted as retribution for sins, including adultery."
— 2024 March 31, Glen Jankowski, “Alopecia in art history: The many ways women’s hair loss has been interpreted”, in CNN:
"What art thou that vſurp’ſt this time of night, / Together with that Faire and Warlike forme / In which the Maieſty of buried Denmarke / Did ſometimes march : By Heauen I charge thee ſpeake."
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 152, column 2, lines 46–49:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He ____ visits his grandparents in the countryside, but only once a month.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Even the best students ____ make mistakes on their exams if they don't read the questions carefully.