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Definition some in British English

some adverb, determiner, pronoun

adverb, determiner, pronoun
strong /sʌm/ weak /səm/

Some can be used in the following ways:

as a determiner (followed by an uncountable noun): I’ll make some coffee. (followed by a plural noun): She brought me some flowers. (followed by a singular countable noun): She married some guy she met on the boat.

as a pronoun (without a following noun): The cake’s wonderful. Won’t you have some?Many fought and some died in the struggle. (followed by ‘of’): Some of the apples were rotten.

as an adverb (followed by a number): The car stopped some twenty-five yards from where we were standing. (after a verb in American English): His condition had worsened some.

1

used for referring to an amount of something or to a number of people or things, without saying how much or how many

Example

Let me give you some advice.

Example

Tomatoes were only 80 pence a kilo, so I bought some.

Example

The result came as a surprise to some.

Example

I just wanted some more information about language courses.

Example

It will take some little time for her to recover.

Example

Some few days later Arthur received a reply to his letter.

2

used for showing that you are only referring to part of an amount, group, or number and not all of it

Example

I've forgotten some of the details.

Example

Some of you may know the story of Rip Van Winkle.

Example

Some kids are more adventurous than others.

Example

Some people like pigeons and some don't.

3

used for emphasizing that you are talking about a fairly large amount of something or a fairly large number of people or things

Example

We've been waiting here for some time already.

Example

He left Cranfield some years ago and hasn't been heard of since.

Example

It took some courage to speak out against her employer.

Synonyms and related words
substantial considerable extensive
4

used for referring to a person or thing without knowing or without saying exactly which one

Example

There must have been some mistake.

Example

Some fool drove into the back of my car.

Example

For some reason or other they didn't stamp my passport.

5

used for showing that you are guessing a number

Example

York is a historic city of some 110,000 people.

Example

Marion died in hospital some ten days later.

Synonyms and related words
about around at a guess
6

used for describing someone or something that you think is very good or impressive

Example

That's some view you get from up there!

Example

That was some wedding - there must have been a thousand people there.

7

used for saying that something happens to a certain degree but not very much

Example

They criticized me personally, and that hurt me some.

Example

I'm feeling some better.

Synonyms and related words
slightly fairly partly
Definition some in British English

Related Words

Words related to some:

and then some (phrase) at () length (phrase) at some point (phrase) be hard to beat (phrase) some rays (phrase) catch/get some z’s (phrase) someone some slack (phrase) for some obscure reason (phrase) for some reason (phrase) for some time (phrase) give it some wellie (phrase) give something some thought (phrase) have bearing on something (phrase) (it’s) all right for some (people) (phrase) kick (some) (phrase) knock some sense into someone (phrase) of someone’s number (phrase) ...or some such (phrase) put some distance between (phrase) some (adverb, determiner, pronoun) some are more equal than others (phrase) some day (phrase) some people have all the luck (phrase) talk (some) sense into someone (phrase) there must be some mistake (phrase) to extent (phrase) with some justification (phrase)