time will tell vs time can tell

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'Time will tell' is a common idiom used to suggest that the outcome of a situation will become clear as time passes. On the other hand, 'time can tell' is less common and implies that time has the ability to reveal something, but it is not as idiomatic as 'time will tell'.

Last updated: March 28, 2024

time will tell

This phrase is a common idiom used to suggest that the outcome of a situation will become clear as time passes.

This phrase is used to indicate that the truth or result of something will be known in the future as time progresses.

Examples:

I'm not sure if they will succeed, but time will tell.
We can't predict the outcome now, but time will tell who was right.
Time will tell whether this project will be successful or not.

Alternatives:

only time will tell
we'll see
the truth will come out in time
the answer will reveal itself with time
time will reveal the truth

time can tell

This phrase implies that time has the ability to reveal something, but it is not as idiomatic as 'time will tell'.

This phrase can be used to suggest that time has the potential to disclose information or reveal the truth, but it is less commonly used than 'time will tell'.

Examples:

Time can tell us a lot about a person's character.
I believe time can tell us whether this decision was the right one.
Time can tell the difference between genuine and fake relationships.

Alternatives:

time has the ability to reveal
time can disclose
time can unveil
time can expose
time can bring to light

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

time will tell vs time can tell

time will tell

time can tell

Related Comparisons

What Our Customers Are Saying