In this mini episode, you will learn an interesting way to use the words “some” and “many.”
Episode 395 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you an interesting way to use the words “some” and “many.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello! This is Alicia, from China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 395 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you about an interesting way that we can use the words some and many. Some and many.
We can use these words in a way that might be a little bit surprising to you. In the right situation, we can use some to mean “some people.” And we can use many to mean “many people.” In the right context, in the right situation, we can just use some when we want to say “some people,” and we can use many when we want to say “many people.”
And, when we do that, our meaning will be clear. Our meaning will be understood if we do it in the right kind of situation.
Let me give you an example of one of those kinds of situations where people might use these words by themselves to refer to some people or many people.
I could say, “Yesterday at the university, a famous scientist gave a lecture, and many came to listen.” Many came to listen. It might seem a little bit strange, but I can use many when I mean many people. Many came to listen. That means many people came to listen.
Why is this the kind of situation where that works? Where I can use many when I mean “many people.”
I think the answer is, in this example, many really could not mean anything else. What else could I mean when I say “many”? Really, the only thing that I could mean is many people. Many people. Many came to listen. Many attended the lecture. It could only mean many people. Clearly I’m not trying to say, “Many dogs came to listen.” No, I’m not saying that. Or “Many trees came to listen.” No, the only thing I could mean is many people. And in a situation like that, instead of saying “many people,” I can just say “many.”
We can see the same thing with the word some. I could say, “Some people enjoy scary movies. But some do not.”
It will be obvious to any listener that some means “some people.”
Some people enjoy scary movies, but some do not. But some people do not. In this example, also, there’s really nothing else that some could mean. This is especially true because at the beginning of the sentence, I said “some people.” Some people. And then, instead of repeating, “but some people do not,” I just said, “but some.”
And so, because I said “some people” at the beginning, that makes it even easier to understand when I say “some” at the end of the sentence.
Some people like scary movies, but some do not. Again, that means, but some people do not.
This is the maybe-strange or surprising way that we can, in the right situation, use some and many to mean “some people” and “many people.”
I think sometimes this might sound a little bit formal. Maybe in regular conversations, people don’t usually use some and many in this way. But still, I think you should know about this interesting way of using the words some and many.
Outro
This is the end of episode 395 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Alicia recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!