Is it some day or someday? The English language can be quite confusing to learn and to differentiate between certain words. While these expressions and words aren’t exactly homophones, they do sound alike. They are not homophones simply because one of the expressions is technically two words rather than one.
But let’s take a look at the differences between these two words...
Is it some day or some day?
Technically, both are correct. It can get incorrect (grammatically speaking) when used in the wrong sentence. Before we take a look at some examples, let’s break down the definition of both of these words/expressions.
Definition of someday and some day
Word | Definition |
Some day or one day | at a particular but unspecified time in the past. |
Someday (adverb) /ˈsəmˌdā/ | at some time in the future. |
What does someday mean?
Someday, refers to something in the future. Rather, some time in the future. When we say, “someday,” we might be saying something like, “I want a car someday.” This means that the person would like a car in the future.
What does some day mean?
Some day, is often used to refer to something that happened in the past. For example, “It was some day last week.” In this sentence, the person is describing an unknown date that’s part of the day of the week, last week.
Which is correct? Some day or someday?
Technically, both are correct. Let’s take a look at some example sentences:
- We went some day last week.
- I want to go to the park someday in the future.
- It was some day last month that the event happened, I can’t remember when it was.
- My mother told me that I would become an adult someday.
Why is “some day” referring to the future?
This is because we have an adjective (some) and the noun (day) that are two words joining together, creating a new meaning aside from the word “someday.” When two words join, they are referred to as compound words.
How to understand compound words
Compound words can make the English language challenging to fully comprehend. In simple terms, a compound words is a word which is made up of two or more words, usually two words, which are put together to form a new meaning.
Open form compound words are two words which are written independently of one another, separated by space. Compounds verbs are words which describe an action. Unlike a regular verb, a compound verb is made up of two words.
Individual word | Individual word | Compound word = new meaning |
Snow | Man | Snowman |
Star | Fish | Starfish |
Cup | Cake | Cupcake |
Rain | Coat | Raincoat |
Lip | Stick | Lipstick |
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