occasionally; once in a while; at long intervals
Describes something that happens infrequently, with noticeable gaps between occurrences. Similar to たまに but can imply longer intervals.
時たま、昔の友達から手紙が来る。
Occasionally, I get a letter from an old friend.
He only shows up once in a while.
Standard mixed kanji-kana spelling.
Kana spelling is common in informal writing.
Rarely used kanji form.
Compound of 時 (とき, 'time') and たま (from 偶, 'occasional'), with the second element reduplicated for adverbial use.