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What is the difference between several and some?

several | some |

As determiners the difference between several and some

is that several is separate, distinct; particular while some is a certain proportion of, at least one.

As adverbs the difference between several and some

is that several is by itself; severally while some is of a measurement; approximately, roughly.

As a noun several

is an area of land in private ownership (as opposed to common land).

As a pronoun some is

a certain number, at least one.

several

English

Alternative forms

* severall (obsolete)

Determiner

(en determiner)
  • Separate, distinct; particular.
  • *, I.42:
  • He had a religion apart: a God severall unto himselfe, whom his subjects might no waies adore.
  • *, II.i.4.2:
  • So one thing may be good and bad to several parties, upon diverse occasions.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • * Dryden
  • Each several ship a victory did gain.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Each might his several province well command, / Would all but stoop to what they understand.
  • A number of different; various. (Now merged into later senses, below)
  • * 1610 , , act 3 sc.1
  • *:.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • habits and faculties, several , and to be distinguished
  • * Dryden
  • Four several armies to the field are led.
  • Consisting of a number more than two or three but not very many; diverse.
  • * 1784 , William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c. , preface:
  • The favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}
  • * 2004 , The Guardian , 6 November:
  • Several people were killed and around 150 injured after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed tonight.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.}}

    Derived terms

    * several states * severally

    See also

    * sever

    Adverb

    (-)
  • By itself; severally.
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
  • Every kind of thing is laid up several in barns or storehouses.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An area of land in private ownership (as opposed to common land).
  • Each particular taken singly; an item; a detail; an individual. (rfex)
  • (archaic) An enclosed or separate place; enclosure. (rfex)
  • Statistics

    *

    some

    English

    (wikipedia some)

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • A certain number, at least one.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
  • An indefinite quantity.
  • An indefinite amount, a part.
  • Synonyms

    * (an indefinite quantity) a few

    Antonyms

    * many * much * none

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • A certain proportion of, at least one.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • An unspecified quantity or number of.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.
  • * , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
  • , title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
  • An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).
  • * , chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
  • A certain, an unspecified or unknown.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=4 citation , passage=By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
  • , volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.}}
  • A considerable quantity or number of.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • (senseid)(informal) A remarkable.
  • Synonyms

    * a few

    Antonyms

    * many * much * no

    Derived terms

    * some old * somebody * someday * somehow * someone * something * sometimes * somewhat * somewhere * somewhy

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Of a measurement; approximately, roughly
  • I guess he must have weighed some 90 kilos.
    Some 30,000 spectators witnessed the feat.
    Some 4,000 acres of land were flooded.

    Statistics

    *