from time to time
228
1.4
- idiom
- - I think we all feel like that from time to time.
- visit from time to time
- continue from time to time
- even from time to time
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Watch on YouTubeHe, he does display genuine nobility from time to time when he chooses to, right.
- He, he does display genuine nobility from time to time when he chooses to, right.
- I would just see him dress up from time to time and go to a lodge.
- And from time to time he'd do something like that.
- These are all things that we all kind of do from time to time when we get excited.
- So like anyone, I make a mistake from time to time.
- It is OK to be burnt out from time to time.
- We don't have that much influence except from time to time.
- You know, the the populism, you know is going to come up from time to time as part of a cycle.
- I still get the, the, the, the dread come over me from time to time.
Examples
-
Like many of us, from time to time, Whitehead experiences network anxiety.
Academic text (2011) -
The hypothesis has continued to appear from time to time in the literature.
Academic text (1993) -
And then from time to time you need to make the test.
-
And he would watch us from time to time when my dad had to work.
-
Ask yourself from time to time too, do you work to live or live to work?
-
That sort of thing happen in China from time to time.
-
"Oh, I do a bit from time to time," he said, "in a small way."
Fiction book (1991) -
I'll look in on you from time to time, OK, honey?
-
And we'll use this from time to time when it's convenient.
-
I try to meet my friends for coffee from time to time when our schedules align.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
On some occasions but not always
508
1.0
Happens only a few times
464
1.0
Happens sometimes but not often
407
2.0
Happens sometimes but not often
353
1.6
Sometimes, but not very often
310
1.7
It happens sometimes but not very often
259
1.0
Happens sometimes but not very often
133
2.0
Sometimes, not very often
118
1.7
Not happening or done very often
92
1.6
Happens one or two times, not often
56
2.3
Happens sometimes but not very often
42
2.0
Happens sometimes but not regularly
41
2.4
Happens sometimes, but not very often
34
2.5
Happens sometimes but not regularly
15
5.0
Happening only sometimes
13
6.5
Happening only sometimes and not regularly
1
6.0
Does not happen often
1
8.8
Not happening often
Antonyms
How Often
740
1.0
411
1.0
∞
1.0
228
1.4
407
2.0
508
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase composes the familiar prepositional frame 'from ... to ...' with the noun 'time' to signal occurrences at intervals, so a learner who knows 'from', 'to' and 'time' can reasonably infer 'occasionally'. This pattern has clear cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. French 'de temps en temps', Spanish 'de vez en cuando'), which makes the meaning immediately accessible rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
The phrase from time to time gives a simple picture: imagine a clock that rings now and then, with something coming from one time to the next. That's why it means 'occasionally' or 'sometimes'.