always

Question

Hi,"He is always considerate of his wife." Would it be fine to replace 'always' with 'all the time' here?Thanks.

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

Only if you rewrite the sentence:

He is considerate of his wife all the time

CalifJim · Answer

all the time is not completely synonymous with always in every case, however.

all the time can mean a frequency less than always. It's often an exaggeration. It's usually about a habit of some kind.

-- The children have just tracked mud through the kitchen again!
-- They do that all the time.

You always have to look both ways before crossing the road.

You would probably not say: You have to look both ways before crossing the road all the time.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Feebs11,

Thank you very much for your helpful answer.

Hi CJ,

Thank you very much for your helpful reply. However, I have some more questions to ask in order to use them correctly.

1.Would it be fine to use 'always' instead of 'all the time' in your example
(The children have just tracked mud through the kitchen again!
-- They do that all the time.)?

2.'I looked all over the house for that letter, and it was in my pocket all the time.'
Could we use 'always', 'the whole time' or 'all along' instead of 'all the time' in the case?

3.'The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.'
Could we replace 'always' with 'all the time' here?

4.I always eat toast for my breakfast.'
Is 'all the time' ok here?
'I eat toast for my breakfast all the time.'

Thanks

CalifJim · Answer

1.Would it be fine to use 'always' instead of 'all the time' in your example
(The children have just tracked mud through the kitchen again!
-- They do that all the time.)?

They always do that doesn't have the same feel about it.
They do that all the time (in the given context) suggests a sort of understanding exasperation and a willingness to put up with the situation. They always do that suggests more frustration and more of a desire to put a stop to the offending behavior. Tone of voice can also create changes in meaning with these.

The difference is something like this:
They do that all the time, but don't worry about it. I'm used to it. It's easy to clean up.
They always do that, and it's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do to stop it.

2.'I looked all over the house for that letter, and it was in my pocket all the time.'
Could we use 'always', 'the whole time' or 'all along' instead of 'all the time' in the case?
always won't work here. I would say all the while, but the whole time and all along, and even all the time (though I like this one least) are also possible.

3.'The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.'
Could we replace 'always' with 'all the time' here? No. I would not recommend that. This is too strict and scientific a rule to express with the loose expression all the time.

4.I always eat toast for my breakfast.'
Is 'all the time' ok here?
'I eat toast for my breakfast all the time.' Yes, but the meaning is different.

I always eat toast for breakfast. ~ Whenever I have breakfast, without exception, I eat toast.

I eat toast for breakfast all the time. ~ It is quite common for me to eat toast for breakfast. It is not at all unusual for me to eat toast for breakfast.

all the time can be contrastive after a negative. It's a way of contrasting a never with a very often. (always doesn't work as well in this context. It doesn't give the same shade of meaning.)

-- I can't understand how anybody could eat toast. It's awful!
-- That's strange. I eat toast all the time.

-- It amazes me that anyone would spend hours watching TV.
-- Hmmm. Why is that so amazing? I do that all the time.

CJ

Khoff · Answer

Jim, your explanations are always awesome!

CalifJim · Answer

LOL. I get that all the time.

But come on, khoff! I've seen your posts. You can do just as well or better!

Jim

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,

Indeed, your explanation is very, very wonderful. How can I thank you enough! Actually, it's very hard for me to use the both properly in every case. And that has puzzled me for a long time. I have some more questions about your answer:

1.Do you mean 'always' is more often than 'all the time' when referring to frequency? If so, the two sentences might be a little different in meaning, isn't it?

"He is always considerate of his wife."
"He is considerate of his wife all the time."

2.'His boss always finds fault with him.'
'His boss finds fault with him all the time.'

Is the difference in meaning between the two sentences the same as your explanation (The difference is something like this:
They do that all the time, but don't worry about it. I'm used to it. It's easy to clean up.
They always do that, and it's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do to stop it.)

Could 'They are always doing that' also mean the same as 'they always do that' here?

3.'I eat toast for breakfast all the time.'
Do you mean 'I usually eat toast for breakfast, but not necessary every time I eat it for breakfast'?

Thank you very much

Anonymous · Answer

Anonymous 1.Is 'always' more often than 'all the time' when referring to frequency? If so, the two sentences might be a little different in meaning, isn't it?

"He is always considerate of his wife."
"He is considerate of his wife all the time."

2.'His boss always finds fault with him.'
'His boss finds fault with him all the time.'

Is the difference in meaning between the two sentences the same as your explanation (The difference is something like this:
They do that all the time, but don't worry about it. I'm used to it. It's easy to clean up.
They always do that, and it's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do to stop it.)

Could 'They are always doing that' also mean the same as 'they always do that' here?

3.'I eat toast for breakfast all the time.'
Does this mean 'I usually eat toast for breakfast, but not necessary every time I eat it for breakfast'?

Thank you very much

Could someone please help me with these questons above?

Thanks

CalifJim · Answer

<<Do you mean 'always' is more often than 'all the time' when referring to frequency?>>

Yes. always usually indicates without exception, but all the time usually indicates very often or on (surprisingly) many occasions or very often, contrary to what you may think.

He is always considerate of his wife." This makes sense. Without exception he is considerate.
"He is considerate of his wife all the time." This is not so good. It makes light of his consideration. It indicates that he is only considerate of his wife on many occasions. People would not normally say this.

'His boss always finds fault with him.' This makes sense. The boss finds fault without exception.
'His boss finds fault with him all the time.' This can be used in a contrastive situation:

-- Henry is a personal friend of the boss, so I suppose the boss never criticizes him.
-- No, that's not true. His boss finds fault with him all the time. (finds fault on surprisingly many occasions)
_________
<<Could 'They are always doing that' also mean the same as 'they always do that' >>
Yes. The two are very similar, but the progressive tense (the one with -ing) is more often used when indicating the repetitive nature of the situation.
_________

<<'I eat toast for breakfast all the time.'
Do you mean 'I usually eat toast for breakfast, but not necessarily every time I eat ~~it for~~ breakfast'?>>
Yes. It means that I eat toast for breakfast very often, more often than people might expect.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,

I am so happy to receive your great reply again. Thank you so much for helping me with my questions and correcting my sentence. Again, your explanation is always superb!
However, I am afraid I still have some more questions I would like to ask you.

1.'My boss always finds fault with me.'
Could this mean 'it's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do to stop it' or just mean 'my boss finds fault without exception'? i.e. could it mean either?

2.'My boss finds fault with me all the time.'
Could this mean 'but don't worry about it. I'm used to it, and suggest a sort of understanding exasperation and a willingness to put up with the situation' or just mean 'very often, more often than people might expect'? i.e. could it mean either?

3.'He is always kind to others.'
According to your explanation, 'all the time' would not be good here, right?

4.Is it possible that 'all the time' and 'always' could mean the same thing without any nuance between them in some ways? E.g.
"Some metals always remain bright. They never tarnish."
Or
"Some metals remain bright all the time. They never tarnish."
Is there any difference between them?

Thank you very much.

always

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