AEE 2387: 8 Different Ways to Use "Some" in English
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This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2387. Eight different ways to use some in English. Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American hosts, Lindsay

McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.

Do you know how many different ways there are to use the word some in English? Find out today.

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- Hey, Lindsay, how are you? - Fantastic, Michelle. How's everything going in your world today? - Everything is good. Hey, Lindsay, at some point today, should we answer a listener question? - Yeah, I would say at some point we absolutely should. - 100%. - How about now? - How about now? I love it. - Yeah, Lindsay, today we have a really good listener question. I'm excited to get this to this episode. And this question comes to us on YouTube and it's from

From S on a body. Yeah, I 1500. I'm sorry in advance if I messed up your name. All right, I'm gonna go ahead and read the listener question. And again, yep. Like you said, Michelle, this comes from YouTube. So guys, don't forget we are over on YouTube. These videos are these are being being recorded as videos that you can actually watch if you learn better through watching. Go over there and hit subscribe. All right. So

So shall I read it, Michelle? Go for it. All right. So they said, I like your energetic voices. Make my day every time. They make my day every time. Oh, that's so nice. Thank you. I was wondering if you could talk about the different uses of the word some and at some point. Ooh. Hmm.

Yeah. Good question. Good question. So interestingly enough, this was not answering, uh, this listener's question, but you and Aubrey did an episode about some words with some, um,

And this was just kind of recently, I think, a Saturday, March 29th was somehow or other. This vocabulary is extremely tricky. So this is good because you can listen to that one and this one and get lots of examples of some somehow. So but we're going to go through this listener question today and give you some other examples of how some is used.

Yeah, so some just seems to be coming up a lot these days. Interesting. Good stuff. So guys, the first thing to do right now before we get going is hit the follow button, whether you're listening in Apple or Spotify or whatever podcast player you use to listen, or if you're on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. All right. Good stuff. So it is a good question, Michelle.

Yeah. And as you said, this is kind of a part two a little bit. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So let's get to it. So at some point. So what when we say at some point, let's answer a listener question now is the sum. Is that meaning something specific or is it determined and set in stone?

It's really more general. We don't have specifics. It means really at any point, at some point. It just means it's more about, yes, we're going to do that.

right yeah exactly it could be soon it could be a little later um so for example at some point she will probably need braces yeah so maybe you realize that your kids teeth are not straight and you're not saying next year or when you're just saying at some point right did you have braces lindsay i did have braces at kind of a young age um when i was like i think nine ten yeah did you

Yeah. I still have a lower retainer in my mouth. Yeah. Very common in the US and American culture to get braces when you're a teenager or a kid. Yes. That's kind of a rite of passage in some ways. It really is. Yeah. We have another sample sentence here, Michelle. Okay. I will probably give you a call at some point to ask about the housing market in your neighborhood. Yes.

And this is kind of good because you prime people to, you're not nailing them down and saying, okay, I want to meet you next Wednesday at the coffee shop and I'm going to ask you questions. It's sort of feeling it out if, are they're willing to talk about that or it's warning them kind of, hey, sometime in the next few months I'm going to call you.

Yeah. Right. Noncommittal. I like that. Yeah. It's just very nonspecific. And so it's really good for...

you know, not pressuring someone too much, not making them feel overwhelmed and also, you know, for yourself saying, okay, well we don't, we, we know what's going to happen. So it doesn't necessarily matter exactly when. And exactly. And this follows up with the other ideas, similar ideas someday, right? Sometime. And somehow we have examples for each of these. Uh, so for example, for someday, I hope for peace in the world someday. We don't know when, uh,

but someday right or sometime give me a call sometime so nice at a point in time I mean that's the same idea right give me a call at some point right but sometime is yeah I do yep or somehow you know somehow there has to be a way for us to finish this and that's part of what Aubrey and I talked about I believe

right yeah yeah and um this one it as i was planning it made me laugh because do you know west side story at all yeah yeah i know the point of that song i won't sing it but somehow someday yeah um yeah there's a place for us yeah so that's what this episode made me think of right i love it yeah reference to broadway right i love it yep

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Okay. And then there are three others where we bring in some, somewhere, someone, and something. I mean, these words are all over the English language. Oh, everywhere. So yeah, somewhere, which is, I think the name of that song in West Side Story is, so I want to go somewhere warm this winter, right? So we know we want to go somewhere, but it's noncommittal as to where we just know that we want it to be warm. Yeah. This is like the ideation stage of things, right? We're kind of ideating on something. Yeah.

And then someone, she's someone special. This is maybe you've been on a date.

And you realize this person might be special to you. She's someone special, right? Or your grandmother or something. Right, right, right. I mean, this is kind of an interesting one. I realized someone is a little bit unique because you are talking about someone specific there, right? So it can be someone. Yeah, I realized that about someone, but...

Yeah, I don't know why that's the one that's a little bit different, right? Well, yeah, that's yeah, that is interesting. Doesn't all work. Right. Because the others follow the pattern of being more broad, less specific, like something. Do you want something to eat? I'm not saying do you want carrots to eat? I'm saying do you want something to eat? Right, right, right, right. Exactly. So unspecified. So let's go over. I wanted to go over one more fun way to use some.

And this is to be emphatic. So this is a very slang type of way, a very unique way to use it. So here, I'll do an example. She's some good singer. Yes, I love this. Very slangy, very slangy. And intonation matters here too. Right? So what are you saying? So she's some good singer.

I'm basically saying she's a really good singer, right? That's just being very emphatic. I'm very enthusiastic about it. Yeah. I've also heard, I feel like this is one of my dad's slangs. He used to say something like, that is some kind of great. That is some kind of great. Like your grades or something or whatever. You won the tennis match. Some kind of great or something. He would put something after that, usually an adjective. Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Some kind of funny. He's some kind of funny. - Yeah, I've heard that. - This is just really, this is slangy, slangy stuff here, so. - Yeah, yeah, exactly. Or what's another example of a sentence? - That was some argument they had. I hope they're okay now. And we really need to punch the some.

That was some argument they had. So this is very different from what we've been talking about. Something, someone, somewhere. Right. Very different. Right. Or that was some expensive gift he got me. So it's like if you were to rearrange that or say it in a different way, you could say like, oh, the gift he got me was really expensive. Or exactly that argument they had was really intense or she's a really good singer. Right. But this is just a different way to do it. That's

Lindsay, I think it's pretty fairly common.

I think so too. Yeah, I think it emphasizes it's a way to show your personality using some. We don't usually we just use some in a very broad general kind of boring way, but you can have some fun here. Right? Love it. Let's do a couple of conversation questions while we have time. Lindsay, where would you like to live someday? Wow, someday I would love to live maybe in

someplace warm, Michelle. I don't know, maybe New Zealand or Australia or something. It'd be very exotic for me. Yeah. Yeah. I think I would like to live

Yeah, maybe a warmer city. A warmer city. I know. I really feel like I could give up winter at this point. That's what my partner always says, too. Like, we could just maybe not have winter anymore. I'm fine with that. But you and the skiing, you got to have winter. I know. But you know what? I don't think I love skiing enough to...

Really? I think I could give it out. I love to ski because I live here and that's what people do and I'm good at it and I'll do it. It's a good way to spend the day, get outdoors, but I could live without it. Okay. Okay. Good to know. Good to know.

Who is someone special you keep in touch with from your childhood? So this is interesting though, because I am now I am using it in more of a noncommittal way, right? It could be right. Like anyone, right. And that's a whole other topic, but yeah, it can be kind of either. It's just interesting. However you use it. Interesting. Well, yeah, I'm not really in touch with any teachers for some people will keep in touch with like their second grade teacher or middle school teacher. I'm not. Uh, but

maybe my best friend from middle school. And she was actually in my wedding, which is very cool. So yeah, I'd say that was someone, that's someone who has been special to me.

Yeah. Yeah. That's very nice. Yeah. I keep in touch with, actually, I just saw, my phone is sitting over here and I just saw that I got a missed call from someone special from my childhood. That's nice. One of my two best friends from childhood. That's nice. So I have to give her a call later. Should we do a role play? Yeah, let's do it, Michelle. So here we are about to see a movie together. Here we go. Okay. Okay.

Should we get something to snack on during the movie? Sure. Popcorn? Oh, yeah. Let's do it. This place has some good popcorn. It's the best movie theater popcorn I've ever had. I can't wait to try it. Oh, remind me. I want to introduce you to someone. My friend Larry says his daughter knows you from law school. Oh, do you know her name? He told me, but somehow I can't remember.

Okay. Text it to me sometime when you remember. What's the actor in this movie's name? Paul something. Oh, Paul Rudd. Oh, I love him. I have to tell you about this new book I read at some point also. Okay. Nice. Yep. Some is coming in here and that wouldn't be uncommon to see some entering the conversation, all these iterations, right? It's just so common. It's, I mean, it's just like everywhere. Yeah. It's everywhere. So, um,

So I said, should we get something to snack on during the movie?

- Mm-hmm, perfect. All right, and then you said, "Yes, let's do it." Right, this place has some good popcorn. And this is this way of expressing our personalities, really emphasizing it has great popcorn. It has some good popcorn, all right? - Yep, yep. And then you said, "Oh, remind me, I wanna introduce you to someone." So this is a specific person, so interesting. - Yeah, interesting. And then you said, "Do you know her name?" And I said, "He told me,

somehow I can't remember. And then I said, okay, text it to me sometime when you remember. Good. And then you said, what's the actor's name in this movie?

uh and I said uh Paul something and this is a common way when we can't come up with someone's last name usually it's actually for uh people we know right Mike something do you know him he was at the party last week um but I guess you could use it for famous actors too right yeah yeah yeah yeah sure Paul Rudd who uh it's funny because we were talking about clueless and that he's in clueless

I think he's that what is that people say that he's aging like incredibly well or was that him or someone else? Yeah, it's like aging reverse aging or something. Benjamin Button action going on. Exactly. He's Benjamin Button. No. Oh, he's gorgeous. I have such a crush on him. Just as good and now as he did in Clueless. I mean, that was 20 years ago. Yeah, he's adorable. Anyway.

Now you guys know one of my celebrity crushes. I have a crush on him too. It's so good. He's adorable. He's got great eyes, right? Great eyes. Yeah. Oh my gosh. We can't stop ourselves, Leslie.

Oh boy, that's funny. And then you said, love him. Everyone loves him. So I have to tell you about this new book I read at some point. And then you said, okay. Yeah. And here you're saying, I'm going to tell you sometime. Maybe it'll be today. Maybe it'll be next time we hang out. Right. We'll talk about the book. Yeah. Now I'm blushing. This is about Paul Rudd. Oh, Michelle. Oh my God. I won't tell Dan. Don't worry. Yeah. Don't tell him. Okay. So, well, this is,

this was a really fun question. Thank you so much to our listener for that question. And Lindsay, um,

takeaways for today? Yeah. I mean, who knew that some could be so fun, right? Who knew it? Love it. We love good questions, guys. So go ahead and send your good specific question to support at allersenglish.com. And I say, you know, if you're at the C1 or even C2 level or high B1, pay special attention to the section where we talked about some

Where is that? Some good singer, right? Or that was some argument they had. This is a really interesting way of showing your personality, right?

come back to that piece play it again study that piece because you may already know the other iterations of some but up your level every time with these episodes you want to find something that is challenging and up your level with that okay love it absolutely all right lindsay this was fun all right talk soon michelle take care bye all right bye

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