Which to use
“sometime” and “sometimes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,552
- “sometime” frequency rank
- #533
- “sometimes” frequency rank
- 6085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sometime | sometimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | At an indefinite but stated time in the past or future. | On some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always. |
Where the eye mixes sometime and sometimes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sometime and sometimes
A purely visual mix-up. sometime (/ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/) and sometimes (/ˈsʌmtaɪmz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “sometime” sits inside “sometimes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sometime is recorded at frequency rank #5,552, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/. sometimes is at rank #533, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈsʌmtaɪmz/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 6085, this pair ranks #512,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sometime vs sometimes
Shared letters: eimost. Private to "sometime": -. Private to "sometimes": -.
"sometime" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "sometimes" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sometime" for "sometimes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sometime" or "sometimes"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sometime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sometimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #512,811 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.