Time after time

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An idiomatic phrase meaning repeatedly or on many occasions, emphasizing frequency and recurrence of events, actions, or patterns over time without specifying exact intervals.

Detailed Definition
Time after time means repeatedly, again and again, across many occasions. In poetry, the idiom can emphasise recurrence in memory, habit, betrayal, forgiveness, seasonal return, or emotional pattern. Its repetition of “time” gives it a steady rhythm, suitable for poems concerned with cycles and persistence. A poet may use it to show faithfulness, frustration, or the weary knowledge that some events keep returning. The phrase is useful for exploring how repeated experience deepens meaning, pain, or attachment.
Example
Example in poetry:
A memory poem might say time after time the same bell returns the speaker to childhood; In a moral poem, time after time kindness succeeds where pride fails; The phrase means repeatedly; A poet can use it to create rhythm and emphasis.
Additional Notes
Time after time means repeatedly, on many occasions. In poetry, the phrase can create rhythm, accumulation, and emotional weight, especially in poems about memory, failure, forgiveness, habit, or recurrence. Its repetition enacts the very recurrence it names. Students should ask whether repeated events show faithfulness, futility, obsession, or pattern. It pairs well with seasons, bells, footsteps, letters, and refrains that return with slight changes.
Also Known As
repeatedly
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