Sometime and sometimes

Question

Waht is the difference in the meaning of the 2 sentences?Everybody needs help SOMETIMES.Everybody needs help SOMETIME.Are both sentences correct in meaning?Thanks

Avangi · Accepted Answer

They're both correct. The plural usually refers to a recurring pattern.
The singular refers to a theoretical single time which may not have occurred. (Your day will come.)
It's also used in reassuring someone who is embarrassed to ask for help, implying that even the most experienced person may someday need help.

Mr Wordy · Answer

See, for example,

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/sometime

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/sometimes

I assume that the intended meaning of your sentence is "Everybody needs help occasionally", or "Everybody needs help from time to time", so it should be "sometimes".

For me, "sometime" doesn't work very well in this sentence. A typical use might be "I'll do it sometime", meaning "I'll do it at some unspecified time in the future".

Avangi · Answer

chiageraldine Waht is the difference in the meaning of the 2 sentences?

Everybody needs help SOMETIMES.

Everybody needs help SOMETIME. ??
Mr Wordy I assume that the intended meaning of your sentence is "Everybody needs help occasionally"
Hi, MrWordy. I don't understand your position. Which sentence are you referring to?

Best regards, - A.

Rotter · Answer

I will die sometime around 2250.
For me, 'sometime' means unspecified time.

Avangi · Answer

I know it's not relevant to the original question, but Google shows better than twice as many hits for the singular version:

"everybody needs help sometimes" 69,900
"everybody needs help sometime" 169,000

Mr Wordy · Answer

Avangi
chiageraldine Waht is the difference in the meaning of the 2 sentences?

Everybody needs help SOMETIMES.

Everybody needs help SOMETIME. ??
Mr Wordy I assume that the intended meaning of your sentence is "Everybody needs help occasionally"
Hi, MrWordy. I don't understand your position. Which sentence are you referring to?

Best regards, - A.

I am assuming that both sentences are actually trying to say "Everybody needs help occasionally". In my usage, the better way to say this is "Everybody needs help sometimes".

[Edit] Further waffle: To me, "Everybody needs help sometime" suggests there will be one occasion in everyone's life when they need help, which doesn't seem a very likely thing to want to say. It's like the difference between "I sometimes do this" and "I'll do this sometime".

Mr Wordy · Answer

Avangi
I know it's not relevant to the original question, but Google shows better than twice as many hits for the singular version:

"everybody needs help sometimes" 69,900

"everybody needs help sometime" 169,000

I'm not claiming any great statistical significance, but I noticed:

"everybody needs help sometimes" site:*.uk -- 11 hits

"everybody needs help sometime" site:*.uk -- 0 hits

I'm wondering if the "sometime" version is more natural in AmE.

Avangi · Answer

I think you've hit upon something, Wordy.

Sorry if I seemed contentious. Just having a bad hair day.

I'm not sure of Pructus' source, but the "unlikely" meaning you suggest is quite common to my ear.

The suggestion that there would be only one occasion is figurative, of course.

Like the common expression "every dog has his day," we don't really require the dog to have one, or prohibit him from having more than one.

And "every dog has his days" would have a different meaning.

Sometime and sometimes

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