English Help Online's Blog

This time I want to write about the grammatical expression, “time and time again”. We use it when we want to talk about a situation which happens very frequently. Here are some example sentences using it.

I’m so annoyed with Jack! He’s late time and time again when we make plans to get together.

Time and time again my sister says she’s going to break up with her boyfriend, but she never does.

Joyce comes over to borrow things time and time again. She’s really getting on my nerves.

This author uses water as a metaphor time and time again in his novels.

It’s important to note that this expression is often used to complain about something or someone. I think this is clear with my first three example sentences. However, in the case of my last example, when the person says the author uses that metaphor “time and time again”, it sounds a little negative and as if he/she doesn’t like that habit of the author. If the person wants to sound less negative, they would say something like “This author often uses water as a metaphor in his novels.”