Evapotranspiration (ET) is an integral part of the terrestrial hydrological cycle, understanding ET partitioning and the identification of its influencing factors is of great significance in the fields of meteorology, hydrology and agriculture. In order to study the applicability of different ET partitioning methods and their influencing factors on different time scales, this paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods for ET partitioning, and discusses their influencing factors on the daily and seasonal scales. The results show that hydrometeorological and isotope methods are more suitable for the field scale, whereas the modelling methods are more suitable for the regional scale. On the daily scale, solar radiation, soil temperature and vegetation type (especially the difference of stomatal conductance) are positively correlated with T/ET. On the seasonal scale, vegetation growth is positively correlated with T/ET, whereas precipitation (amount and frequency) and soil moisture content are negatively correlated with T/ET. Finally, the existing problems of ET partitioning are discussed and the key issues to be addressed are put forward from the aspects of methods and influencing factors of ET partitioning, so as to provide some references for the research of ET partitioning.