-(으)ㄹ 때

-(으)ㄹ 때

When the word "sometimes" is used just to show the frequency of an action, you can say 가끔, 가끔씩or 때때로. (가끔 and 가끔씩 are more common in spoken korean).

But when you want to literally say "some times" and "other times", you use the expression 어떨 때.

Ex)

어떨 때 영화 보고 싶어요?

When do you (usually) feel like watching movies?

어떨 때 제일 힘들어요?

When do you (usually) have the hardest time?

As you can see above, 어떨 때 is commonly used when you are asking about a general pattern or habit, whereas 언제 would just have the plain meaning of "when.

어떨 때 can also be used, however, to mean "sometimes". But this is when you want to show contrast between "sometimes" and "other times". Therefore, you usually use 어떨 때 with the topic marker -는.

어떨 때는 = sometimes + certain state/action

+

어떨 때는 = other times + another state/action

Like shown above, you can repeat 어떨 때는.

커피요? 어떨 때는 마시는데, 어떨 때는 안 마셔요.

Coffee? Sometimes I drink it, but other times I don't.

어떨 때는 훈자 있는 것이 좋은데, 어떨 때는 싫어요.

Sometimes, I like being alone, but other times, I don't like it.

If you want to specific and say "other times" in Korean, too, you can use the expression  "다를 때는" using the verb 다르다. Although 어떨 때는 is more commonly used, some people also use 어떤 때는since it is the presence tense.

Sample sentences

1. 그 사람은 어떨 때는 친절한데, 어떨 때는 정말 불친절해요.

Sometimes he is kind but sometimes he is very unkind.

2. 어떨 때는 일을 그만두고 싶은데, 어떨 때는 일 하는 게 좋아요.

Sometimes I feel like quitting my job, but other times I like it.

You can also use the ending -(으)ㄹ 때도 있어요 after the second 어떨 때는 clause.

3. 어떨 때는 운동하는 게 재미있는데, 어떨 때는 운동하고 싶지 않을 때도 있어요.

Sometimes working fun is other, but other times, there also times when I don't like doing exercise.