Meaning of some in English

some

determiner

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strong /sʌm/ uk

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weak /səm/ us

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strong /sʌm/ us

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weak /səm/

some determiner (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

an amount or number of something that is not stated or not known; a part of something:

There's some cake in the kitchen if you'd like it.

Here's some news you might be interested in.

We've been having some problems with our TV over the last few weeks.

Could you give me some idea of when the construction work will finish?

I've got to do some more work before I can go out.

More examples

I've just had some chocolate.
Add some fresh parsley, finely chopped.
I need to get some fresh air to clear my head .
Steven gave me some good advice.
We had some friends round for dinner on Saturday.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Some and quite

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some determiner (LARGE AMOUNT)

B2 uk

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/sʌm/ us

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/sʌm/

a large amount or number of something:

It'll be some time before we meet again.

It was some years later when they next met.

We discussed the problem at some length.

More examples

It'll be some time before we get to eat again.
It took some effort to get the thing upstairs.
In the end she agreed but she took some persuading.
Will you phone me back - it's a matter of some importance.
Green's new world record will take some beating.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Large in number or quantity

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some determiner (PARTICULAR THING)

C1 uk

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/sʌm/ us

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/sʌm/

used to refer to a particular person or thing without stating exactly which one:

Some lucky person will win more than $1,000,000 in the competition.

Some idiot's locked the door!

There must be some way you can relieve the pain.

More examples

Some fool switched it off.
Some girl rang for you but she didn't say her name.
Some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to let the animals out.
There must be some way you can get it to work.
There must be some way you can get the documents back.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Some and quite

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some determiner (ANGER)

informal uk

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/sʌm/ us

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/sʌm/

used before a noun, especially at the beginning of a sentence to show anger or disapproval, often by repeating a word that was not accurately used:

Some people just don't know when to shut up.

Some help you were! You sat on your backside most of the afternoon!

"A friend of mine sold me a radio that doesn't work." "Some friend!"

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Inconvenience

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some determiner (EXCELLENT)

informal uk

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/sʌm/ us

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/sʌm/

used before a noun to show how good something or someone is:

Wow, that was some dinner!

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Informal words for good

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Grammar

Some

Some is a determiner and a pronoun. …

Some as a determiner

We use some before nouns to refer to indefinite quantities. Although the quantity is not important or not defined, using some implies a limited quantity: …

Some as a pronoun

We use some as a pronoun (i.e. without a noun following) when the noun is understood: …

We use some and any in different types of clauses. …

Idioms

and then some

some ... or other

some

pronoun

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strong /sʌm/ uk

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weak /səm/ us

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strong /sʌm/ us

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weak /səm/

an amount or number of something that is not stated or not known; a part of something:

If you need more paper then just take some.

"Would you like to have dinner with us?" "No thanks, I've already had some."

Some of you here have already met Imran.

Have some of this champagne - it's very good.

some people:

Some have compared his work to Picasso's.

More examples

We've got a lot of apples if you'd like some.
There's a cake here - would you like some?
I had some of Jean's bread and it was good.
There's plenty of coffee here if you'd like some.
Some of you will know Ron already.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Some and quite

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Grammar

Some

Some is a determiner and a pronoun. …

Some as a determiner

We use some before nouns to refer to indefinite quantities. Although the quantity is not important or not defined, using some implies a limited quantity: …

Some as a pronoun

We use some as a pronoun (i.e. without a noun following) when the noun is understood: …

We use some and any in different types of clauses. …

some

adverb

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strong /sʌm/ uk

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weak /səm/ us

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strong /sʌm/ us

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weak /səm/

some adverb (APPROXIMATELY)

used before a number to mean approximately; about:

Some 50 tons of rock are taken from the quarry every day.

The water is some 20 to 30 metres beneath the ground.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Approximate

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some adverb (SMALL AMOUNT)

US informal

by a small amount or degree; a little:

She says she's feeling some better.

We could turn down the heat some if that would make you more comfortable.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Small in number and quantity

beggarly
below
certain
could count sth on (the fingers of) one hand idiom
count
drabs
mingy
minimal
minimally
modestly
narrow
outside
piffling
remote
scantly
slenderness
smallness
speak
strength
suggestion

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(Definition of some from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

some | American Dictionary

some

adjective [ not gradable ]

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/sʌm, səm/

some adjective [not gradable] (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

having an amount or number that is not known or not stated, or being a part of something:

Let’s get some work done.

Some stories he wrote were made into movies.

some adjective [not gradable] (PERSON OR THING)

used to refer to a person or thing when you cannot say exactly who or what it is:

Some jerk backed into my car in the parking lot.

There’s got to be some way out of here.

Idiom

some thing or other

some

adverb [ not gradable ]

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/sʌm, səm/

some adverb [not gradable] (APPROXIMATELY)

(used in front of a number) approximately; about:

Some 200 people applied for the job.

some

pronoun

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/sʌm, səm/

some pronoun (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

an amount or number that is not known or stated:

If you want more spaghetti, please take some.

I like some of the people in my class.

Some can also mean some people:

Some have compared him to President Kennedy.

Note:

In negative sentences, you use "any" or "no" instead of "some." In questions, you usually use "any" instead of "some."

some

adjective [ not gradable ]

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/sʌm/

some adjective [not gradable] (LARGE AMOUNT)

being a large amount or number of something:

She was married to him for some years.

These things have been going on for some time.

some adjective [not gradable] (UNUSUAL)

infml

used before a noun and spoken with emphasis to show that something is unusual:

Some party that turned out to be – nobody showed up.

Margo is really a terrific cook – that was some dinner!

some

adverb [ not gradable ]

infml

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/sʌm/

some adverb [not gradable] (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

a little; in or by a small degree:

I slept some in the car on the way home.

(Definition of some from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of some

some

Some of these observations were missing from original data forms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Some examples of their applications can be found in refs.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

More examples Fewer examples

Some here and there are simple and dignified.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this case, some cells may be understained.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such functional communities may or may not imply some form of community of feeling.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We have permitted ourselves some syntactic flexibility in presenting the metaprogram.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

More than this, it was strikingly similar to some of the plans being drawn up at that very moment by coiffeurs themselves.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In large new housing estates alone, some 100,000 new dwellings a year are planned to be built.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We generalize some recent results developed in static policy games with multiple players, to a dynamic context.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The problem is that each player's use indirectly interferes with the other's use and that some arrangement is necessary to reconcile both uses.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The oboe, on the other hand, offers very little for the eye, though some players attempt to compensate for this with grand gestures.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

From the qualitative interviews, however, some interesting expansions of the definitions of ' relative ' have emerged.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The solutions capture some of the qualitative features observed in experiments.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is of interest to discuss some qualitative aspects of the solution before carrying out the calculation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although, in principle, strong objections may be raised against such direct comparisons, some qualitative results have been obtained.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of some

Translations of some

in Chinese (Traditional)

in Japanese

in Turkish

in French

in Catalan

in Arabic

in Czech

in Danish

in Indonesian

in Thai

in Vietnamese

in Polish

in Malay

in German

in Norwegian

in Korean

in Portuguese

in Chinese (Simplified)

in Italian

in Russian

in Spanish

未知的數目, 一些，若干, 大量…

いくらか, いくつか, 一部（の人、物）…

biraz, bir miktar, az…

du / de l’ / de la, des, quelques…

una mica de, alguns, algunes…

بَعْض…

několik, trochu, nějaký…

nogle, nogen, noget…

sedikit, beberapa, tertentu…

บางส่วน, บางคน, เล็กน้อย…

một vài, vài ba, một lượng không xác định…

trochę, kilka, parę…

sedikit, sesetengah, seorang dua…

etwas, einige, gewisse…

noe, litt, noen…

조금, 일부의, 어떤…

um pouco de, alguns, algumas…

未知的数目, 一些，若干, 大量…

un po’ (di), del, della…

какое-то количество, немного, несколько…

algo de, algunos, -as…

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What is the pronunciation of some?

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sombre

sombrely

sombreness

sombrero

some

some ... or other idiom

some thing or other idiom

somebody

someday

Meaning of some in English

some determiner (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

some determiner (LARGE AMOUNT)

some determiner (PARTICULAR THING)

some determiner (ANGER)

some determiner (EXCELLENT)

Grammar

Idioms

Grammar

some adverb (APPROXIMATELY)

some adverb (SMALL AMOUNT)

some | American Dictionary

some adjective [not gradable] (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

some adjective [not gradable] (PERSON OR THING)

Idiom

some adverb [not gradable] (APPROXIMATELY)

some pronoun (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

Note:

some adjective [not gradable] (LARGE AMOUNT)

some adjective [not gradable] (UNUSUAL)

some adverb [not gradable] (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

Examples of some

Translations of some

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