| 词组 | somebody, someone |
| 释义 | somebody, someone 1. Somebody and someone are two of those curious indefinite pronouns that take a singular verb but are often referred to by the plural pronouns they, their, and them. A number of commentators are on record as insisting on grounds of logical consistency that singular pronouns be used. The governing principle in the choice of pronouns is notional agreement, and when the speaker or writer has more than one person in mind, or a very indefinite somebody, the plural pronoun tends to be used: • "Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once." —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925 • "... Someone hated him so much that they don't want anything he possessed to remain." —Margery Allingham, Death of a Ghost, 1934 • You talk to someone like Dore Schary, and they say, 'Miss Cornell, wouldn't you be interested in making a picture?' —Katherine Cornell, quoted in Time, 20 Apr. 1953 • ... instantly, the minute somebody opens their mouth —Robert A. Hall, Jr., Leave Your Language Alone, 1950 • ... if he finds someone who needs help... he should tell them where they can get it or offer to pass on their name —Times Literary Supp., 4 Apr. 1968 • ... too nice a man to decline when someone says they want him to show up at one of their functions so they can honor him —And More by Andy Rooney, 1982 • Then someone suggested knocking off early and getting some beer and they even offered to chip in for a bottle of Chivas Regal for Manny —Joseph Wam-baugh, Lines and Shadows, 1984 You will note that in some of these examples the choice of they, their, them contrasts usefully with another pronoun which is third person singular. When a singular pronoun (usually masculine, occasionally feminine) is used to refer to somebody or someone, the speaker or writer often seems to have someone specific in mind (or in Alice's case, in sight): • "I see somebody now!" she exclaimed at last. "But he's coming very slowly...." —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, 1871 • ... till somebody happened to note it as the only case he had met ... —Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw," 1898 • ... it was a bit risky to bring him home as eventualities might possibly ensue (somebody having a temper of her own sometimes) —James Joyce, Ulysses, 1922 But the singular pronoun is also used when the someone or somebody is not specific: • If someone doesn't carry any money, the chances are he's loaded. I'm not sure about rich women, but I know rich men don't usually have a nickel with them —And More by Andy Rooney, 1982 See also agreement: indefinite pronouns; notional agreement, notional concord; they, their, them. 2. Copperud 1980 has a curious note to the effect that it is a superstition that someone is preferable to somebody, and a similar notion is mentioned in Shaw 1987. Somebody and someone are of the same age, according to the OED, and when the OED came out, somebody was much better attested. In the 20th century, however, someone has come on strong, and we seem to have slightly more evidence now for someone than for somebody. But both, of course, are equally standard; use whichever one you think sounds better in a given context. |
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