now and again
54
2.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
de vez en cuando
- Every now and again, sure.
- happen now and again
- come now and again
- get together now and again
There is one caveat, which is that every now and again, people don't know what they want.
- There is one caveat, which is that every now and again, people don't know what they want.
- It could be something like just randomly every now and again the floor creaks really loud.
- I do have to pick out some wedgies every now and again, but who doesn't TikTok shop?
- As do ringing the bell and maybe every now and again a thumbs up.
- We just, we just literally every now and again you'd win.
- And now like she will message me every now and again.
- Well, listen, you know, like families, we always fall out now and again.
- No, I talk to him now and again and I'm like, no, it's not, not me.
- You know, Frank Warren, he tries, he wears nice suits every now and again.
- It's like a radio on a really bad frequency and little things just get through every now and again.
- So every now and again I might be bold enough to say, hey, you over there, who hasn't subscribed?
- So I'm not really on X, although I do come out now and again on X to sort of clarify things and sort of make a point about how bad X is.
Examples
-
Well, if you wanna keep getting the catalogue, you got to order something every now and again.
-
Be nice to have an extra pair of hands around here sometimes to help out now and again, but...
-
I heard you come in here now and again.
-
I imagine she could use an extra hand now and again.
-
What I believe is that now and again you can maybe touch base with some people.
Academic text (1996) -
The girls in the village come to me now and again for such things, and sometimes the married women too.
Fiction book (1991) -
So, every now and again... I like to remind myself who I am.
-
For them it has been a constant four year losing streak and every now and again they get a win.
-
I've been following your work now and again for a couple of years.
Blog text (4) -
It's nice to visit the beach now and again when I need a break.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
On some occasions but not always
539
1.0
Happens only a few times
451
1.0
Happens sometimes but not often
438
2.0
Happens sometimes but not often
427
1.6
Sometimes, but not very often
285
1.0
Happens sometimes but not very often
267
1.4
Happens sometimes but not regularly
137
2.0
Sometimes, not very often
122
1.7
Not happening or done very often
79
1.7
It happens sometimes but not very often
73
2.0
Happens sometimes but not regularly
41
2.4
Happens sometimes, but not very often
30
2.5
Happens sometimes but not regularly
16
5.0
Happening only sometimes
Does not happen often
Not happening often
How Often
Surface Forms
Morphology
now + and + again
The meaning 'occasionally' is directly composed from 'now' (at a time) plus 'again' (another time), indicating intermittent repetition. This is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern (cf. 'now and then'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Now and again puts now ('this time') next to again ('another time') to paint a simple picture of something happening now and then later, sometimes but not often. That's why it means 'from time to time' or 'occasionally'.