one/someone

[Topstudent]

Client: Is it always so hard for you to accept when a client doesn't want to see you anymore?

Therapist: No. Only when it's one/someone I think I can help.

Client: You can't help me.

Are both 'one' and 'someone' grammatically correct here? Are they equally natural/idiomatic in this context or is one of them more likely?

 

[Skrej]

Yes. They're equally natural.

 

[probus]

Some people prefer "someone" because they feel "one" is too stuffy, old-fashioned or formal. Such people often substitute "you" for "one".

 

[tedmc]

"Someone" sounds better to me as it unequivocally refers to a person.

 

[5jj]

Some people prefer "someone" because they feel "one" is too stuffy, old-fashioned or formal. Such people often substitute "you" for "one".

That's the impersonal 'one'. This isn't - and 'you' can't be substituted for it.

 

[jutfrank]

The meaning is very slightly different. Using one has a direct anaphoric reference to the uttered words a client. Using someone would mean 'a person, who is a client'.

There's no practical difference between them in this context, since all clients are people and all people referred to are clients.