someone
part of speech
pronoun (someone; someone's)
meaning for a pupil
1) Someone means a person, but we do not say who. tree →
2) «Someone» can also mean an important person: she wants to be someone. tree →
3) (casual) «Someone» is used to hint at a person everybody knows: «Someone ate my chips» means I know it was you. tree →
4) (casual, sarcastic) «Someone's grumpy» or «someone's in a mood» teases a person who is right there. tree →
5) (formal) «A person», «an individual» and «a party» are stiff words: «an unidentified individual», «a third party». tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths a word of the story only; look at the verb (took, gave, bought). Safety: if someone you don't know asks you to go with them, say no and tell an adult. Everyday: someone else, someone special. In casual talk «someone» is often a pointed hint or a tease. In the exam voice: «an individual purchases 4 pens». Phrases: «someone else», «someone or other», «be someone».
examples
- Someone took 3 cookies from the jar. tree →
- Someone gave her $5. tree →
- If someone buys 4 pens, how much do they pay? tree →
- Someone left 2 books on the desk. tree →
- Someone is knocking at the door. tree →
- Ask someone for help if you are lost. tree →
- Is someone sitting here? tree →
- She wanted someone else to go first. tree →
- someone ate 3 of my 8 chips and i know it was u (casual) tree →
- Ooh, someone's in a mood today. (casual, teasing) tree →
- Someone's gonna get a smack if they touch my bike. (rough threat) tree →
- An individual purchases 4 pens at 30 cents per pen; compute the total expenditure. (formal exam) tree →
- “Because someone has eaten my feet.” tree →
note
Takes a singular verb: someone is. Same as «somebody». Questions often use «anyone». No clue of its own; look at the verb (took, gave, bought). Trap: «someone's» = someone is, or belonging to someone («someone's bag»). Sarcasm: «someone's grumpy» means you are grumpy. Formal «an individual» = someone. Safety: someone you don't know online may not be who they say.
In the corpora
- A CV is a page or two listing someone's education, jobs and skills; Americans call it a résumé.
- An inheritance is money or belongings left by someone who has died, as written in their will.
- A credit score is a rating of how reliably someone pays; missing payments lowers it and makes borrowing harder and dearer.
- A food bank is a charity that gives free food parcels, usually after a referral from someone like a school or a doctor.
- "Going out with someone" means two people are a couple who spend time together because they like each other a lot.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «someone» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.