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“Some” or “Sum”

some / sum are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term.

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Definitions

What each term means

Same sound, different spellings and meanings, shown with a pronunciation guide for each term.

some s·AH·m

  • adjectivequantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity.
  • adjectiverelatively much but unspecified in amount or extent.
  • adjectiverelatively many but unspecified in number.
  • adjectiveremarkable.

sum s·AH·m

  • nouna quantity of money.
  • nouna quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers.
  • nounthe final aggregate.
  • nounthe whole amount.
Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“some”

  • …air in 2009 after airing some 8,000 interviews.
  • Some of the firm's most notable…
  • From 1990 to 2018 some 170 Virunga Rangers have died…
  • …the lack of cooperation from some groups has been problematic for…
  • …with Ibn Surayj's men and some Türgesh; according to Arab tradition,…
  • "Some Summers They Drop Like Flies"…
  • …as well as to load some features.
  • Gray's interview became controversial, with some arguing that it was good…
  • Some sources have estimated the failure…
  • While some of these contained potentially sensitive…

“sum”

  • …diffusive fluxes at the boundary sum to zero:
  • …join the squad in the summer. The sum was the third-highest…
  • …is popular with Chinese Dim sum
  • …Boston charged a consistently escalating sum to its Parliamentary candidates who…
  • …social welfare, defined as the sum of the (normalized) utilities of…
  • …at Valley Road for the sum of $16,561.
  • …in certain qualities, and the sum of the effects that the…
  • …at Dordrecht, Netherlands, for a sum of 831,200 guilders.
  • …to amass a large enough sum to have him undergo surgery…
  • …Szach Stryj Sanok Styr Smyk Sum Sajdak Salamandra Slon Smok Saracen…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions are drawn from WordNet.

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