“Sometimes I like to eat ice cream”

“We should get together some time”

“It was in fashion some time ago”

It is a tendency to translate “sometimes” or “some time” in each of those examples as “algún tiempo” or “algunos tiempos”, which is incorrect. What should be used is “a veces”, “algún momento” and “algún tiempo” depending on the context.

For example:

“Sometimes I like to eat ice cream” is “a veces me gusta comer helado“. This is the most common usage for “sometimes” (one word).

“We should get together some time” is “debemos reunirnos en algún momento“. This use of “some time” is some time or unknowable point in the future.

“It was in fashion some time ago” is “fue de moda en algún tiempo“. “Some time” is used as some unspecified but determined time period in the past.

Labels: Current Feature, Level: Intermediate, Spanish Grammar

[ 0 comments ]