some one vs. someone

Alireza   Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:37 am GMT
What is the difference between "some one" and "someone"?

I've read "some one" in the following sentence:

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be
on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the
minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful
property of some one or other of their daughters.
Robin   Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:04 pm GMT
I might write 'someone' if I wanted the words to flow together, and 'some one', if I wanted the words to stand apart.

Can somone help me with the dishes?

Can some one (ie you) help me with the dishes?

In the passage above, it is a question of emphasis.

the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.


one or other of their daughters, lay claim to him.

He wasn't 'someone', he was one person, who was owned by another person.
Tiffany   Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:21 pm GMT
In today's Modern English I don't think we'd use the paragraph Alireza posted in native everyday speech.

That said, I've never seen "someone" split as a word. Emphasis may be given to "one" in "someone" to mean you, as you say Robin, but it will still be spelled "someone" either way.

In the paragraph Alireza posted, it is not a case of splitting the word "someone". The phrase "some one or other of their daughters" can be also said as "some daughter or another daughter of theirs" if it makes it more clear. The "some" in that sentence refers not to the man, but the daughters. He considered property to a daughter of theirs, but which one is not specified, hence the use of "some".