Some and Others

Question

I have a question about 'some and others'.

Suppose that if there is one set and we divide it into 5 groups.

If then I pick up one group, it is called 'Some'. And then if I do it again, the selected one is called 'others.'

And if I do it once more, the third one is called 'others.'

But I found a counterevidence that the third one is called 'Some.'

Which one is grammartically right?

THANKS IN ADVANCE

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Others are in relation to some.

These are some. Those are others.

As long as you still consider the first group "some," I think you should consider the third group "others."

There are other ways to designate groups.

The first group can be "some," and the second group can be "some more." And the third group can be "some more."

Perhaps if you give us more details on your counterexample, we can figure out what's going on.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

You need to consider what the words 'some' and 'others' actually mean. Then you need to choose the word that shows the meaning you intend.

Consider this example.

There are 100 *****. Each ball has only one colour.

I might say this.

Some are red. I mean 'an unspecified number of them'.

Others are blue. I mean 'different ones, not the ones I already mentioned'.

Others are yellow. I mean 'different ones, not the ones I already mentioned'.

Or I might say this.

Some are red. I mean 'an unspecified number of them'.

Some are blue. I mean 'an unspecified number of them'.

Some are yellow. I mean 'an unspecified number of them'.

As you can see, there is very little difference in these two ways of speaking.

_____________

But now consider this example.

There are 100 men. Their languages are English, Chinese and French. Each man may speak one of these languages, or two, or three.

I might say this.

Some speak English. I mean 'an unspecified number of them'.

Others speak Chinese. I mean 'different men, not the ones I already mentioned'.

Others speak French. I mean 'different men, not the ones I already mentioned'.

Or I might say this.

Some speak English. This group may or may not include men who also speak French or Chinese.

Some speak Chinese. This group may or may not include men who also speak English or French.

Some speak French. This group may or may not include men who also speak English or Chinese.

As you can see, in this example there are now differences in these two ways of speaking.

Best wishes, Clive

Erious · Answer

Thank you for your answer <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Erious · Answer

The anonymous who wrote the question is me.

When writing this question, I had troble with login. So I couldn't leave my nick on it.

I'm alway appreciateing your long and easy explanations.

Some and Others

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