Occasionally in the present as well as some point in the past (3,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
now and then
'occasionally' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'present as well as some point in the past' is the wordplay.
'present' becomes 'now' (both can mean the current period).
'as well as' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'some point in the past' becomes 'andthen' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'now'+'andthen'='NOW AND THEN'
'in the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for now and then that I've seen before include "Occasionally" , "making a historical contrast" , "Sometimes" , "At times" .)