Confused Words - sometime or sometimes?

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Hi, my name is Rebecca and in today's video we are going to talk about the difference

between two words "sometimes" and "sometime".

There is a difference, alright?

Not just in spelling.

The first one, of course, I said "sometimes" with the "s" and in the second one I said

"sometime" without the "s".

Let's understand exactly what the difference is between these two, ok?

So when I say that I do something "sometimes", it means that I do it on certain occasions,

not all the time.

For example, sometimes I go to a movie, right?

Sometimes I go shopping in the middle of the week.

I don't do it all the time, I do it sometimes, right?

For example, sometimes I pick up dinner from an Indian restaurant.

Another example, sometimes I wish I had completed university, right?

So this means I don't think that or do that all the time, but only on certain occasions.

So if this is time, right, if this is a timeline representing time, I do it only on certain

occasions and not continuously through the time, alright?

That's "sometimes".

So there is certainty here.

I know when I do these things, I know when I think of these things, correct?

There is certainty.

Let's contrast that with the second one which is "sometime".

Now the word "sometime" is used to describe something that happens at an unknown time

or place in the past or the future.

What do we mean by that?

What do we mean by an unknown time?

For example, suppose you're telling me about John and you say, "John got married sometime

last year", right?

You don't know exactly when, but you know that he got married last year.

So you say, "John got married sometime last year", or, ok, just a moment, that one is

to describe the past, correct, because it was last year.

Now let's see how we can refer to an uncertain period of time in the future.

I would like to visit Italy sometime next year.

Or I would like to visit Italy sometime in my life.

I don't know when, so there is uncertainty, right?

So this uncertainty could refer to the past, as in the example with when John got married,

or it could refer to uncertainty in the future.

So if I say, "See you sometime", means at some point in the future which we don't know

right now, which is not certain.

But if I tell you that I meet John sometimes, it means that we meet on certain occasions,

but not all the time, ok?

I know sometimes English can be quite frustrating.

One little letter, an "s", can completely change the meaning of the word and the way

the word is used.

I hope this little lesson has made it a little bit easier for you.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to write to me at www.engvid.com.

Thanks very much and keep working on your English.