Have you ever found yourself writing a report or essay, your thoughts flowing, your fingers gliding across the keyboard, and then you misspelled a word? But that word is not like love animalsit is daily sometimes or Anytime. “Do I use closed or open spelling?” you ask yourself. Your brain is messed up, and you just stare at your screen, trying in vain to figure out which one to use. We’re here to ease the stress of writing and help you confidently apply the correct spelling to your writing in this two-part lesson on writing. sometime/sometimes And anytime/anytime.
The bell will ring any moment now…
Adverb sometimes can mean “at some point in the future” or “at some unspecified or certain time known in the past.” Attach “s” to words to form adverbs Sometimesmeans “at certain times” or “sometimes.” Sometimes written as an open compound (sometimes) also has an adverb function, but it is also a standard noun phrase. As you can guess, it is sometimes most confusing for writers and editors.
Adverb sometimes is a closed compound of someindicates an unknown amount or number and time (“We should see each other sometime”; “They arrived sometime late last night”). The phrase “some time” is also used adverb. Consider the sentence, “He came some time ago.” The difference between “sometime last night” and “some time ago” may not be immediately obvious, as both phrases have adverbial functions—they indicate arrival time, though indefinite. (Additional: adverb of time, manner, place or degree of verb, adjective or other adverb.) However, in “some time ago,” some And time still function within the phrase itself as an adjective and a noun, and the duo works together as a noun phrase.
A common use of sometimes As a true noun phrase is when it follows a preposition and functions as the object of a prepositional phrase, the phrase is always a noun or noun phrase (“She stayed for a while” ). In “I Have Some Time To Help You,” sometimes function as a noun modifier—the words together indicate what the subject “I” possesses (or has).
An easy way to know if some And time should be written as one or two words are to insert rather before some and see if the passage still makes sense. If it doesn’t, some And time should write separately: “Long time no see”; “He’s been here quite a while.” Otherwise (as in “He was long gone last night”), sometimes is the correct choice. Besides, sometimes can be replaced by phrases such as “for a short time” or “for a long time,” and substituting such a phrase in a sentence can help determine which spelling to use. For example, in “We’ll arrange to meet at some point next week”, “a short/long time” is not a substitute for “some time”, so sometimes is the correct choice. On the other hand, in “It’s going to take a while to fix,” the replacement fits, so sometimes correct.
use Sometimes is quite uncomplicated. Adverbs are written as one word (“We all make mistakes sometimes”). You can also come across Sometimes as a noun phrase followed by a preposition.
With the rest of the time, “maverick”—the name he has carried throughout his career, at some more relaxed times than others—will put country first and speak the truth. —James Hohmann, washington articlesMay 23, 2018
(Sorry, there’s no break between classes. Okay, fine, you can have a snack. But come back soon.)
Adverb Anytime means “anytime (anything)” and it is usually written as a single word. However, it also occurs as an adverb phrase consisting of an adjective. anyused to refer to non-specific or specific people or things, and nouns timeand like sometimes, Anytime can function as a standard noun phrase.
Conjugation of the adverb Anytime And any where became common in both oral and written language. A rather famous example is from director Martin Scorsese’s character Travis Bickle (played by Robert De Niro) in Taxi driver (1976), who told his human resources staff, “I’ll work anytime, anywhere.” Many daily examples of Anytime is “Taxi will be here anytime now” (when it arrives, be sure to check the taxi driver); “The situation does not look like it will improve anytime soon”; “You can contact me anytime after 4 hours.” In all of these examples, the definition “at any time” can be substituted for Anytime.
When you come across the phrase Anytime, see if it follows a preposition. If yes, it is the object of a prepositional phrase and therefore it is treated as a noun phrase (yes, we are teaching by repetition), as in “You can have breakfast any time of the day.” day.” It also functions as a regular noun. For example, in “The group has no free time,” any only works as an adjective modifying the noun time.
adverbs Anytime often used instead of Anytime. In both of these examples, “anytime” can be replaced by “anytime”:
… a workspace that looks like the perfect environment won’t be replicated in many corporate offices around the world any time soon. —Tom Warren, precipiceMarch 6, 2017
Under MLB regulations, potential Dominica clients are freelance agents, not subject to draft entry. They can sign with teams any time after their 16th birthday. —Bruce Schoenfeld, GAMEMarch 14, 2017
If you are unsure about using Anytimeyou can enter the definition of the adverb and see if it makes sense, or you can be safe and use Anytime– And Anytimefor that matter, as it is accepted as both a noun and an adverb phrase.
In summary, although there is no difference in the closed and open spellings of sometimes And Anytime in speech, available on screen and page. The closed spellings are true adverbs, but the open spellings also have adverbial uses. Sometimes And Anytime are noun phrases, most recognizable when preceded by a preposition, but omitting the preposition they function as adverbs. Final, any number And time can be adjacent in a sentence that is not an adverb or object of a prepositional phrase; they can just be what they are, an adjective and a noun.
We’ve been teaching for a while—class is over.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
