Frequently occurring events can also be described as happening often. Can it also be said they are happening oftentimes? While both the words are adverbs, only often can be written before and after a verb. That makes often the modern, smaller, useful and multipurpose word. So, the question remains, why even bother using oftentimes?
With the help of this article, I will illustrate the difference between the two words, highlighting their contextual meanings. At end, I would explain a useful trick to help you utilize them accurately in your writing instantly.
Origin:
Oftentimes originated from late Middle English: extended form of oft-times, influenced by often.
Oftentimes as adverb:
The term oftentimes is used as an adverb in archaic or North American English in the form of often. It means frequently or commonly occurring.
Examples:
Oftentimes, these business ventures net them more than their paychecks from the screen or stage. [Forbes]
A supermajority, typically of two-thirds of shareholders, is oftentimes required to approve a merger or acquisition. [National Post]
The crowd was quite animated, oftentimes cheering and oftentimes yelling out in disgust. [Captain Jack for President, John Jones]
But oftentimes, he has to acknowledge that his life is governed by a double standard. [AV Club]
Oftentimes they lack the resources to hire additional staff to help tackle necessary tasks. [Newsday]
Positive rap, like political rap, is oftentimes not as commercial as gangsta or materialistic rap. [Rap Therapy, Don Elligan]
Use of often times:
Even though, the word often has numerous alternatives, often times is not one of those and if the words ‘often’ and ‘times’ are written separately, and not jointly as shown in above illustrations, they give an entirely different meaning to the sentence.
Examples:
Often, times change faster than the people who live in them.
Oftentimes or often times:
Often is a shortened version of the bigger word oftentimes and they both are adverbs that act as synonym for the word frequently. They have the same mean but often is preferred due to its shortness but often times is not the same as ‘often’ and ‘oftentimes’. Remember, the space between the two words make it completely irrelevant to its definition.
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