SOME | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

Meaning of some in English

some
determiner
uk
strong /sʌm/ uk
weak /səm/ us
strong /sʌm/ us
weak /səm/

some determiner (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

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A1
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 examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Some and quite
See more results »

some determiner (LARGE AMOUNT)

B2 uk
/sʌm/ us
/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 examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Large in number or quantity
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some determiner (PARTICULAR THING)

C1 uk
/sʌm/ us
/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 examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Some and quite
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some determiner (ANGER)

informal uk
/sʌm/ us
/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!"
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Inconvenience
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some determiner (EXCELLENT)

informal uk
/sʌm/ us
/sʌm/
used before a noun to show how good something or someone is:
Wow, that was some dinner!
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Informal words for good
See more results »

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: …
Some of
We use some with of before the, demonstratives (this, that), pronouns (you, us) or possessives (my, your). We use some of to refer to a part of a whole: …
Some: typical errors
We don’t use weak form some with singular countable nouns: …
Some and any
We use some and any in different types of clauses. …

Idioms

and then some
some ... or other
some
pronoun
uk
strong /sʌm/ uk
weak /səm/ us
strong /sʌm/ us
weak /səm/
A1
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 examplesFewer 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.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Some and quite
See more results »

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: …
Some of
We use some with of before the, demonstratives (this, that), pronouns (you, us) or possessives (my, your). We use some of to refer to a part of a whole: …
Some: typical errors
We don’t use weak form some with singular countable nouns: …
Some and any
We use some and any in different types of clauses. …
some
adverb
uk
strong /sʌm/ uk
weak /səm/ us
strong /sʌm/ us
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.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Approximate
See more results »

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.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Small in number and quantity
See more results »
(Definition of some from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

some | American Dictionary

some
adjective [ not gradable ]
us
/sʌm, səm/

some adjective [not gradable] (UNKNOWN AMOUNT)

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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 ]
us
/sʌm, səm/

some adverb [not gradable] (APPROXIMATELY)

(used in front of a number) approximately; about:
Some 200 people applied for the job.
some
pronoun
us
/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 ]
us
/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
us
/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
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
These examples are from corpora 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.
What is the pronunciation of some?
 
A1,B2,C1,A1

Translations of some

in Chinese (Traditional)
未知的數目, 一些，若干, 大量…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
未知的数目, 一些，若干, 大量…
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in Spanish
algo de, algunos, bastante…
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in Portuguese
um pouco de, algum, alguma…
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in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
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in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
थोडे, बराच, बरीच…
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いくらか, いくつか, 一部（の人、物）…
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biraz, bir miktar, az…
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du / de l’ / de la, des, quelques…
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una mica de, alguns, algunes…
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wat, sommige, een paar…
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குறிப்பிடப்படாத அல்லது அறியப்படாத ஒன்றின் அளவு அல்லது எண்ணிக்கை, ஏதோ ஒன்றின் ஒரு பகுதி, ஒரு பெரிய தொகை அல்லது ஏதாவது எண்…
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थोड़ा, कुछ, काफी…
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થોડું, થોડી, કોઈ…
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nogle, nogen, noget…
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några, en del, lite…
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sedikit, sesetengah, seorang dua…
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etwas, einige, gewisse…
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noe, litt, noen…
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کچھ, کوئی, کچھ لوگ…
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якийсь, деякий, деяк…
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какое-то количество, немного, несколько…
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కొంత, కొన్ని, ఒక దానిలో చాలా లేక ఒక దాని సంఖ్య…
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بَعْض…
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কিছু, এমন কিছুর পরিমাণ বা সংখ্যা যা বলা হয়নি বা জানা যায়নি, কোনোকিছুর একটা অংশ…
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několik, trochu, nějaký…
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sedikit, beberapa, tertentu…
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บางส่วน, บางคน, เล็กน้อย…
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một vài, vài ba, một lượng không xác định…
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trochę, kilka, parę…
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조금, 일부의, 어떤…
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un po’ (di), del, della…
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sombre
sombrely
sombreness
sombrero
some
some ... or other idiom
somebody
someday
somehow
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