Chinese word

一些

Pronunciation

Pinyinyī xiē

Meaning

  • pronounsome

Example

我买了一些水果。wǒ mǎi le yì xiē shuí guǒ

I bought some fruit.

Illustration for 一些 (some)

More examples

有一些人来了。yǒu yì xiē rén lái le

Some people came.

Core concept

A small, open-ended amount or degree with its exact size left unspecified.

Common phrases

  • 一些人yì xiē rén

    some people

  • 一些东西yì xiē dōng xī

    some things

  • 一些钱yì xiē qián

    some money

Similar words

几jǐ: A question word for an unknown but usually small number of things or people.
几个jǐ gè: A few individual items, used when asking about or stating a small number.
有些yǒu xiē: Some amount or degree, often used before an adjective to express a mild quality.

Definition in Chinese

表示不确定的少量，可以放在名词前表示若干某物，也可以跟在动词后表示做了少量某事。biǎo shì bú què dìng de shǎo liàng ké yǐ fàng zài míng cí qián biǎo shì ruò gān mǒu wù yě ké yǐ gēn zài dòng cí hòu biǎo shì zuò le shǎo liàng mǒu shì

Word origin

The compound 一些 (yīxiē, "some") combines 一 (yī, "one") + 些 (xiē, "a few"), giving an indefinite small quantity.

Usage tips

  • After a verb, this word often marks a small amount of what the action affects, rather than the degree of the action itself.

Other meanings

  • somewhatadverb
  • severalpronoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word