July 7, 2025 • 9 mins
I have some things to tell you today, even though I had some trouble putting this lesson together. I mean I had like some 50 different ideas, but I narrowed it down to this one. This is gonna be some lesson!
Today, we’re diving into a small word that does a lot of work in English—“some.” You probably already use it, but did you know that some has more than one meaning? Did you know that we have 7 ways to use some?
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/transcript
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
Airplane, Seatbelt Sign Beep by Kinoton -- https://freesound.org/s/670297/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Today, we’re diving into a small word that does a lot of work in English—“some.” You probably already use it, but did you know that some has more than one meaning? Did you know that we have 7 ways to use some?
Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/transcript
Visit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/
Airplane, Seatbelt Sign Beep by Kinoton -- https://freesound.org/s/670297/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I have some things to tell you today. Even though
I had some trouble putting this lesson together. I mean,
I had like some fifty different ideas, but I narrowed
it down to this one. This is gonna be some lesson.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty one.
This is some lesson. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining
(00:54):
me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm
your English teacher, Michael. Well, and I'm so glad you're listening.
Today we're diving into a small word that does a
lot of work in English. Some You probably already use it,
(01:15):
But did you know that some has more than one meaning?
Did you know that we have seven ways to use some?
Let's break it down together, and as always, let's start simple.
I think you already know that we use some when
(01:37):
we're talking about an unspecified amount of something like I
ate some French fries or Iran some errands. This morning,
I didn't say exactly how many fries I ate or
which errands iran. It's vague, and that's okay. Using some
(01:59):
keeps casual and flexible. But here's where it gets interesting.
Some can also mean a lot, like a surprisingly large
amount of something. For example, I've known my buddy Paul
for some years now. In fact, we've known each other
(02:24):
since high school, and he sent me some pictures of
his house. It looks amazing. He must have spent some
money renovating his house. In this context, we use some
to mean a large amount of something, and using some
(02:45):
this way gives emphasis to that thing. I've known him
for some years. This has the nuance that, yeah, it's
been a while now. I could have just said I've
known him for many years, but that's just a fact
(03:06):
I've known him for some years gives us the nuance
that it's been a long time. So, depending on how
you say it and the context, some can suggest a
big amount.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Okay, folks, now fasten your seat belts because it's gonna
get bumpy.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's right, Jenny. Because some can also mean the opposite,
a small or regular amount, like I had some chips earlier,
so I'm not hungry right now. You can imagine that
I didn't eat a huge amount of chips there. Oh yeah,
(03:47):
And I think I'll stay in the office another half hour.
I have some work to finish before I go home.
Just another half hour, not a lot of time, so
it's just a small amount of work. I often say
that context is king, and when it comes to using some, well,
(04:11):
context is the King and the Queen. That's fun right now,
moving ahead. We also use some when we're talking about
a person or thing that's unknown. In this case, the
word some has nothing to do with quantity at all.
(04:32):
Some is just used to talk about the unknown. Like
Jack had some trouble with his car this morning. I
don't exactly know or say what the trouble was. All
I know is he had some trouble. And speaking of cars,
this afternoon, some guy hit my car in the parking
(04:56):
lot and then drove off. I have no idea who
it was. I just know what happened. Oh yeah, at
the meeting yesterday they had sandwiches for everyone. There was
some kind of meat in that sandwich. Not sure what
it was. Using some tells us about a mystery. Next up,
(05:21):
here's one of my favorite uses of some, when we
say that was some and then and noun we mean
it was amazing, impressive, or unforgettable, like did you see
the Black Sabbath concert this weekend? That was some performance.
(05:44):
I watched it at Jack's house and he cooked us
some dinner. It was delicious. He is really some cook.
Want to sound like a native speaker, try using some,
like this time you're impressed with something. Oh, and don't
forget this common usage. We use some for offers and
(06:10):
polite requests, like would you like some coffee? Or can
I get you some water? Hey, it's gonna be a
long drive, let's listen to some music. And finally, and
this one's a little more advanced, but we sometimes use
some to estimate or guess a number, like the first
(06:34):
time I saw that group in concert was some thirty
years ago. Some thirty years ago means about or around
thirty years ago. But the nuance of using some is
that some thirty years ago was quite a long time ago.
(06:55):
Oh yeah, and there were some two hundred people at
the wedding here too, Using some gives us the meaning
that there were about two hundred people, and the nuance that, wow,
there were a lot of people at that wedding. Pretty useful, right,
So to sum up this little word sum can mean
(07:21):
a vague amount, a large amount, a small amount, something unknown,
something awesome, something offered, and even something approximated. That's some word. Huh.
All right, that's it for today. You're probably thinking, Wow,
(07:42):
that was some English lesson. Keep in mind, the best
way to remember English like this and any other word
or phrase in English is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memory your sentences. Hey,
(08:03):
do you want to get more practice using your English,
then you need to join my podcast Learner's study group.
There you can make new friends, join us for live
group lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
Plus you get access to the PVF transcript and audio
(08:24):
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcasts Lesson eight
(08:47):
forty one. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
As was brought to you by Happy English. Please visit
myhappy english dot com. Show your support for Happy English
by leaving us a review. Get English, Get happy, Happy English.
I have some things to tell you today. Even though
I had some trouble putting this lesson together. I mean,
I had like some fifty different ideas, but I narrowed
it down to this one. This is gonna be some lesson.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty one.
This is some lesson. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining
(00:54):
me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm
your English teacher, Michael. Well, and I'm so glad you're listening.
Today we're diving into a small word that does a
lot of work in English. Some You probably already use it,
(01:15):
But did you know that some has more than one meaning?
Did you know that we have seven ways to use some?
Let's break it down together, and as always, let's start simple.
I think you already know that we use some when
(01:37):
we're talking about an unspecified amount of something like I
ate some French fries or Iran some errands. This morning,
I didn't say exactly how many fries I ate or
which errands iran. It's vague, and that's okay. Using some
(01:59):
keeps casual and flexible. But here's where it gets interesting.
Some can also mean a lot, like a surprisingly large
amount of something. For example, I've known my buddy Paul
for some years now. In fact, we've known each other
(02:24):
since high school, and he sent me some pictures of
his house. It looks amazing. He must have spent some
money renovating his house. In this context, we use some
to mean a large amount of something, and using some
(02:45):
this way gives emphasis to that thing. I've known him
for some years. This has the nuance that, yeah, it's
been a while now. I could have just said I've
known him for many years, but that's just a fact
(03:06):
I've known him for some years gives us the nuance
that it's been a long time. So, depending on how
you say it and the context, some can suggest a
big amount.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Okay, folks, now fasten your seat belts because it's gonna
get bumpy.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's right, Jenny. Because some can also mean the opposite,
a small or regular amount, like I had some chips earlier,
so I'm not hungry right now. You can imagine that
I didn't eat a huge amount of chips there. Oh yeah,
(03:47):
And I think I'll stay in the office another half hour.
I have some work to finish before I go home.
Just another half hour, not a lot of time, so
it's just a small amount of work. I often say
that context is king, and when it comes to using some, well,
(04:11):
context is the King and the Queen. That's fun right now,
moving ahead. We also use some when we're talking about
a person or thing that's unknown. In this case, the
word some has nothing to do with quantity at all.
(04:32):
Some is just used to talk about the unknown. Like
Jack had some trouble with his car this morning. I
don't exactly know or say what the trouble was. All
I know is he had some trouble. And speaking of cars,
this afternoon, some guy hit my car in the parking
(04:56):
lot and then drove off. I have no idea who
it was. I just know what happened. Oh yeah, at
the meeting yesterday they had sandwiches for everyone. There was
some kind of meat in that sandwich. Not sure what
it was. Using some tells us about a mystery. Next up,
(05:21):
here's one of my favorite uses of some, when we
say that was some and then and noun we mean
it was amazing, impressive, or unforgettable, like did you see
the Black Sabbath concert this weekend? That was some performance.
(05:44):
I watched it at Jack's house and he cooked us
some dinner. It was delicious. He is really some cook.
Want to sound like a native speaker, try using some,
like this time you're impressed with something. Oh, and don't
forget this common usage. We use some for offers and
(06:10):
polite requests, like would you like some coffee? Or can
I get you some water? Hey, it's gonna be a
long drive, let's listen to some music. And finally, and
this one's a little more advanced, but we sometimes use
some to estimate or guess a number, like the first
(06:34):
time I saw that group in concert was some thirty
years ago. Some thirty years ago means about or around
thirty years ago. But the nuance of using some is
that some thirty years ago was quite a long time ago.
(06:55):
Oh yeah, and there were some two hundred people at
the wedding here too, Using some gives us the meaning
that there were about two hundred people, and the nuance that, wow,
there were a lot of people at that wedding. Pretty useful, right,
So to sum up this little word sum can mean
(07:21):
a vague amount, a large amount, a small amount, something unknown,
something awesome, something offered, and even something approximated. That's some word. Huh.
All right, that's it for today. You're probably thinking, Wow,
(07:42):
that was some English lesson. Keep in mind, the best
way to remember English like this and any other word
or phrase in English is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memory your sentences. Hey,
(08:03):
do you want to get more practice using your English,
then you need to join my podcast Learner's study group.
There you can make new friends, join us for live
group lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
Plus you get access to the PVF transcript and audio
(08:24):
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcasts Lesson eight
(08:47):
forty one. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
As was brought to you by Happy English. Please visit
myhappy english dot com. Show your support for Happy English
by leaving us a review. Get English, Get happy, Happy English.
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