one at a time vs one at the time

The correct phrase is 'one at a time.' 'One at a time' is a common expression used to indicate doing things sequentially or individually.

Last updated: April 01, 2024 • 410 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"one at a time"

This phrase is used to indicate doing things sequentially or individually, one after the other.

Examples:

Please come in one at a time.
Let's address each issue one at a time.
The children took turns speaking one at a time.
I can only focus on one task at a time.
The teacher handed out the papers one at a time.

Show examples from the web [+]

She made them open their gifts one at a time.
We'll have to try to sleep one at a time.
Now, come here one at a time.
We'll let them out one at a time.
Might get picked off one at a time by aliens.
We make do with one at a time.
Count Dracula relishes an audience, only one at a time.
Okay, one at a time.
He's killing us one at a time.
Through your ears, one at a time.
My office, one at a time.
Let's hope we find them one at a time.
As the postman said, one at a time.
Okay now, one at a time.
Start flipping these guys one at a time.
Okay, guys, one at a time.
We can high-five one at a time.
Doing this thing one at a time isn't working.
Applies changes to the selected objects one at a time.
We can barely face these guys one at a time.

This phrase is incorrect in English.

"one at the time"

Show examples from the web [+]

Could you speak one at the time?
In the window of the vintage clothing shop "Closet", I placed an armchair and a old briefcase to be opened.Viewers were invited, one at the time, to sit inside and make use of the briefcase's content.
You can only propose one at the time.
I was eating one at the time.
Version 0.18 is the current one at the time of writing (Aug. 98).
I wasn't able to give you a big one at the time.
In the end a different motion emerged, similar to the one at the time of the BSE debate, and the result was inevitable.
Since the tension of steam depends on temperature, the measurements performed were reliable only at temperatures close to the one at the time of calibration.
In order not to endanger public security, all efforts should be made to ensure that this agreement replaces the current one at the time when it expires, by 30 September at the latest.
The concept of an illuminated fountain wasn't exactly a new one at the time, however it's most likely one of the first to do so as part of a regular and synchronized show.
they were different years, but I thought about each one at the time he was there -
Use this rule to skip a string of word characters at once, rather than testing with multiple rules and skipping one at the time due to no match.
No one at the time - neither the oppressed nor the oppressor - believed the persecution could last long. To Falun Gong practitioners, the persecution must have been the result of a misunderstanding.
Use this rule if you know that there can several whitespaces ahead, for example in the beginning of indented lines. This rule will skip all whitespace at once, instead of testing multiple rules and skipping one at the time due to no match.
She could have adopted the persona of a criminal if she was connected with one at the time.
It was always the same beach with fine sand, with successive and regular waves, one at the time.
If we were going to abort each egg one at the time, it'd take a very long time.
One at the time.
I studied computers because I heard that was the thing, and I became a computer programmer - not an especially good one, not an especially happy one at the time when I was first on "Jeopardy" in 2004.
One at the time twins looks likes singletons.

Alternatives:

one at a time

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