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I read the usage of "somewhere, something, somebody & someone" on Cambridge and it says that those words can be used to describe general people & things. But all the example they give uses singular verb (i.e. verbs with s/es). Can those 4 words be used to refer to many unknown/general things, such as in this sentence:

The ghost costume looks like something from a horror movie.

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  • What are the "multiple things" in your example? (All the nouns you've used there are singular.)
    – Lawrence
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 11:00
  • Please add a link so that we can examine 'Cambridge''s exact words. It's probably just 'A uses 'somewhere' to refer to one unnamed (or unknown or even imaginary) place (perhaps in Africa), while B uses it to refer to another (perhaps in the Arctic). Unnamed places.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 11:05

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You have not fully understood what the dictionary is saying.

“I saw you somewhere in France.”

Somewhere is a singular noun and an adverb:

“I saw you somewhere (adv.) in France.” = at an unknown/unspecified place.

“The ship has come from somewhere (n.) and is going to somewhere(n.) = an unknown/unspecified place.

The plural of “somewhere(n.)” is “some places”. - two words   “The ship has come from some places in Africa.”

“The battles were fought at some places in France.”

Something is a singular noun:

“Something(n.) is making a noise.” / “I need something(n.) to write with.” = an unknown/unspecified thing /object.

The plural of “something (n.) is “some things” – two words

“I will put some things into the attic.”

Somebody and someone are nouns:

“Somebody(n.) / Someone(n.) is making a noise.” / “I need somebody(n.)/ someone(n.) to help me.” = an unknown/unspecified person.

The plural of “somebody (n.) / someone(n.) is “some people” – two words

“Some people are making a noise.” / “I need some people to help me.”

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  • Some of those actually can be turned into plurals in the right context: There were two twenty-somethings walking down the street. In fact, we would write it that way; we would not use twenty-some things. Or: Don't give me all the somewheres and wherefores, just tell me what you mean. But those are unusual uses of the words, treating them as countable nouns.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 13:17
  • Is "The ghost costumes look like something from a horror movie" acceptable?
    – Conrado
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 17:57
  • Yes, it is. "... like something from ..." ≈ "like a group of items from". The plural (some things) would be wrong in this context, as "something" treats "all the ghost costumes" as one set/group. ++ If you want to avoid this: ""The ghost costumes look as if they came from a horror movie".
    – Greybeard
    Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 21:04

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