somebody vs. someone

[borhan_3010]

Hi everyone

What is the difference between: 'somebody' and 'someone'?

Can somebody tell me what is the difference between them, with examples?

Thanks

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi everyone

What is the difference between: 'somebody' and 'someone'?

Can somebody tell me what is the difference between them, with examples?

Thanks

Sometimes there's no difference, sometimes only one of them might be right. As always, context is important.

Please post a few sentences using the two words and then we will comment.

 

[Raymott]

I would have said there's no difference. Maybe I'm just lacking imagination tonight. :shock:

 

[5jj]

I am of the same opinion as Raymott. Let's see if we are wrong.

 

[TheParser]

CAUTION: NOT A TEACHER


Borhan,

(1) Until I read your question, I had always assumed that they were interchangeable.

(2) I then did some googling, and I discovered that some native speakers see a

difference.

(3) When you get time, please google these words:

Somebody someone difference.

(4) You will get pages of results. In fact, the first result has many interesting comments.

(5) I shall end my remarks by reporting what Linguist List (a scholarly website

for linguists -- or grammarians) says:

It conducted a study and found that:

somebody seems to be favored for informal speech.

someone seems to be favored in formal speech and writing.

(This study was reported in a website called Language Log, November 10, 2009.)

 

[david11]

I would have said there's no difference. Maybe I'm just lacking imagination tonight. :shock:

Please explain what you mean by this.

 

[5jj]

I looked through some of the links Parser suggested. It seemed to me that nobody (no-one?) came up with any hard evidence that there is any real difference between the rwo words. Some people felt that one was more formal than the other, some preferred one to the other, but there was no general agreement. I'll stick with my own feeling, and that of the dictionaries I have consulted - there is no difference.

 

[Raymott]

Please explain what you mean by this.

I mean: I think they are the same.

 

[borhan_3010]

Hi everybody
Thanks for response
As you say I think there is no different between them but which one is more used?

@TheParser
I can googling but I can't trust all result! I'll trust here more than google! This is reason that I Come in here and ask my question from the masters(?)!

 

[5jj]

As you say, I think there is no differen[STRIKE]t[/STRIKE]ce between them, but which one is more used?

'somebody' has 45,098 COCA citations and 7,011 BNC citations; 'someone' has 144,123 COCA citations and 17, 782 BNC citations.

'someone' is used far more than 'somebody', according to these corpora.

 

[TheParser]

@TheParser
I can googling but I can't trust all result! I'll trust here more than google! This is reason that I Come in here and ask my question from the masters(?)!

CAUTION: NOT A TEACHER


(1) You are a very intelligent person. Yes, one must be very careful about what one

reads on the Web. And, yes, you can depend on the answers here that you get

from the teachers.

(2) I found something from an American expert named Bryan A. Garner. One of his

books is A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. Many people seem to think that

he gives accurate advice.

(a) He writes that

(i) The words are "equally good."

(ii) "Euphony should govern the choice."

(a) My dictionary tells me that "euphony" means "pleasing to the ear."

(i) I guess that he means that you should consider all the words in the sentence and then decide which word ("someone" or "somebody") sounds the most pleasing to the ear when it is used with all the words in the sentence. Of course, this is a difficult decision for us ordinary native speakers. So it would be really difficult for a learner.

(b) Mr. Garner says that (in his opinion) the word someone is "often better" if you are

looking for euphony.

(c) I know nothing (nothing) about the rules of pronunciation. But which word do you

think sounds "more pleasing" to the ear, and which one is easier for you to

pronounce? Say the word "someone" out loud; then do the same with "somebody."

As for me, I feel that the "smoother-sounding" word and the more easily pronounced

word is someone.