from time to time

English

Adverb

from time to time

1. (idiomatic) Occasionally; sometimes; once in a while.
   • circa 1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act 3, sc. 3.

     I'll find out your man,

     And he shall signify from time to time

     Every good hap to you that chances here.

   • 1815, Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. 25,

     On these red embers Hatteraick from time to time threw a handful of twigs.

   • 1922, T. S. Eliot, "The Waste Land," lines 196-197,

     But at my back from time to time I hear

     The sound of horns and motors.

2. (obsolete) Continuously from one time to another; at all times, constantly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:

     So was she trayned vp from time to time, / In all chast vertue, and true bounti-hed / Till to her dew perfection she was ripened.

Translations

occasionally

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偶爾 (cmn), 偶尔 (cmn) (ǒu'ěr), 不時 (cmn), 不时 (cmn) (bùshí), 間或 (cmn), 间或 (cmn) (jiànhuò)

• Czech: čas od času (cs), občas (cs)
• Danish: fra tid til anden (da), nu og da (da)
• Dutch: van tijd tot tijd (nl)
• Esperanto: de tempo al tempo (eo)
• Finnish: toisinaan (fi), ajoittain (fi), silloin tällöin (fi), aika ajoin (fi)
• French: de temps en temps (fr)
• German: von Zeit zu Zeit (de)
• Greek: από καιρό σε καιρό (el) (apó kairó se kairó) , από καιρού εις καιρόν (el) (apó kairoú eis kairón)  (idiomatic)
• Italian: di tanto in tanto (it), ogni tanto (it)
• Japanese: 時々 (ja) (ときどき, tokidoki)

• Persian: گهگاه (fa) (gahgâh), گاه به گاه (fa) (gâh be gâh), هر از گاهی (fa) (har-az-gâhi), هر چند وقت یک بار (fa) (har-cand-vaqt-yek-bâr)
• Polish: od czasu do czasu (pl)
• Portuguese: de vez em quando (pt)
• Romanian: din când în când (ro)
• Russian: время от времени (ru) (vrémja ot vrémeni) , временами (ru) (vremenámi) , порой (ru) (porój) 
• Serbian: časomice, s vremena na vreme
• Serbo-Croatian: с времена на време (sh)
• Spanish: de vez en cuando (es)
• Swedish: då och då (sv), stundom (sv)
• Tagalog: paminsan-minsan (tl), pana-panahon (tl)
• Turkish: zaman zaman (tr)

See also

• every now and then
• now and again
• now and then