What's the difference between something and thing?

Something


Definition:

  • (n.) Anything unknown, undetermined, or not specifically designated; a certain indefinite thing; an indeterminate or unknown event; an unspecified task, work, or thing.
  • (n.) A part; a portion, more or less; an indefinite quantity or degree; a little.
  • (n.) A person or thing importance.
  • (adv.) In some degree; somewhat; to some extent; at some distance.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I ask a friend to have a stab at, “down at cafe that does us butties”, and he said: “Something to do with his ass?” “Whose arse?” He looked panicked.
  • (2) It shows that the outside world is paying attention to what we're doing; it feels like we're achieving something."
  • (3) Amid the acrimony of the failed debate on the Malaysia Agreement, something was missed or forgotten: many in the left had changed their mind.
  • (4) It is an intriguing moment: the new culture secretary, Sajid Javid, who was brought in to replace Maria Miller last month, is something of an unknown quantity.
  • (5) Mr Heine suggested: "It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki."
  • (6) The mother in Arthur Ransome's children's classic, Swallows and Amazons, is something of a cipher, but her inability to make basic decisions does mean she receives one of the finest telegrams in all literature.
  • (7) After friends heard that he was on them, Brumfield started observing something strange: “If we had people over to the Super Bowl or a holiday season party, I’d notice that my medicines would come up short, no matter how good friends they were.” Twice people broke into his house to get to the drugs.
  • (8) Michele Hanson 'The heat finally broke – I realised something had to change …' Stuart Heritage (right) with his brother in 2003.
  • (9) If we’re waiting around for the Democratic version to sail through here, or the Republican version to sail through here, all those victims who are waiting for us to do something will wait for days, months, years, forever and we won’t get anything done.” Senator Bill Nelson, whose home state of Florida is still reeling from the Orlando shooting, said he felt morally obligated to return to his constituents with results.
  • (10) "Maybe dullness is associated with psychic pain," Wallace wrote at one point, "because something that's dull or opaque fails to provide enough stimulation to distract people from some other, deeper type of pain that is always there, if only in an ambient low-level way, and which most of us spend nearly all our time and energy trying to distract ourselves from."
  • (11) He was often detained and occasionally beaten when he returned to Minsk for demonstrations, but “if he thought it was professional duty to uncover something, he did that no matter what threats were made,” Kalinkina said.
  • (12) You might even arrive home with something tolerable for supper.
  • (13) When I told my friend Rob that I was coming to visit him in Rio, I suggested we try something a bit different to going to the beach every day and drinking caipirinhas until three in the morning.
  • (14) At least Depay departed having had a shot on target, something his manager will probably offer as proof United are improving.
  • (15) In saying what he did, he was not telling any frequent flyer something they didn't already know, and he was not protesting about any newly adopted measures.
  • (16) Later, Lucas, also a former party leader, strongly defended Bennett, saying it was a “bad day for Natalie” but there was also “kind of a gloating tone that strikes one as having something to do with her being a woman in there too”.
  • (17) There can’t be something, someone that could fix this and chooses not to.” Years of agnosticism and an open attitude to religious beliefs thrust under the bus, acknowledging the shame that comes from sitting down with those the world forgot.
  • (18) Over the years it has become something of a Westminster ritual.
  • (19) Women in their 20s Christina Wallace , Director, Startup Institute of New York I do think the women's movement is stalled – especially since it's just not something my generation really thinks about.
  • (20) "We have accomplished something that has never happened before," the 68-year-old said.

Thing


Definition:

  • (n.) Whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, as a separate entity, whether animate or inanimate; any separable or distinguishable object of thought.
  • (n.) An inanimate object, in distinction from a living being; any lifeless material.
  • (n.) A transaction or occurrence; an event; a deed.
  • (n.) A portion or part; something.
  • (n.) A diminutive or slighted object; any object viewed as merely existing; -- often used in pity or contempt.
  • (n.) Clothes; furniture; appurtenances; luggage; as, to pack or store one's things.
  • (n.) Whatever may be possessed or owned; a property; -- distinguished from person.
  • (n.) In Scandinavian countries, a legislative or judicial assembly.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) One thing seems to be noteworthy in their opinion: the bacterial resistance of the germs isolated from the urine is bigger than the one of the germs isolated from the respiratory apparatus.
  • (2) The curious thing, it seems to me, is that she was never criticised for it.
  • (3) I’ve never really had that work versus life thing; it’s all part of the same canvas.
  • (4) I f you haven’t got a family, you need that replaced in some way, that’s the most important thing you can do for someone in care,” says 24-year-old Chloe Juliette, herself a care leaver.
  • (5) Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tried to liven things up, but there are only so many ways to tell us to be nice to chickens.
  • (6) Benzaldehyde's in cherries and cherrystones and amaretto, so it's immediately a base to pair things with."
  • (7) The most difficult thing I've dealt with at work is ... the terminal illness of a valued colleague.
  • (8) Photograph: Gareth Phillips for the Guardian Because health is devolved, the Welsh government can do things differently from England.
  • (9) Nick Robins, head of the Climate Change Centre at HSBC, said: "If you think about low-carbon energy only in terms of carbon, then things look tough [in terms of not using coal].
  • (10) But do you know the thing that really bites?” he pointed to his home, which was not visible behind an overgrown hedge.
  • (11) One radio critic described Jacobs' late night Sunday show as a "tidying-up time, a time for wistfulness, melancholy, a recognition that there were once great things and great feelings in this world.
  • (12) October 27, 2013 7.27pm GMT Around the league And here’s how things look elsewhere, as we head into the fourth quarter: Cowboys 13-7 Lions Browns 17-20 Chiefs Dolphins 17-20 Patriots Bills 10-28 Saints Giants 15-0 Eagles 49ers 35-10 Jaguars 7.25pm GMT End of 3rd quarter: 49ers 35-10 Jaguars The quarter ends with the Jaguars facing a third-and-one at their own 32.
  • (13) The two groups had one thing in common: the casualties' mostly deliberate posttraumatic reaction; there were only 3 patients in a state of helplessness.
  • (14) On a weekend that sees the country celebrate 50 years of independence it is certain that despite all things – good and bad – that have taken place in 2013, the next 50 years will be transformed by personal technology, concerned citizens and the media.
  • (15) One of the things Yang has said he wants to investigate is: "This state we're in ... a moment when we have to negotiate our past while inventing our present."
  • (16) Advancing the health and rights of women is the right – and smart – thing to do for any nation hoping to remain or emerge as a leader on the global stage.
  • (17) Before the offer for the jungle came in she was meant to be presenting the Plus Size Awards this week, an event supporting plus-size people who are doing amazing things but are overlooked by the mainstream.
  • (18) Pekka Isosomppi Press counsellor, Finnish embassy, London • It may have been said tongue in cheek, but I must correct Michael Booth on one thing – his claim that no one talks about cricket in Denmark .
  • (19) In some ways, the Gandolfini performance that his fans may savour most is his voice work in Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are (2009), the cult screen version of Maurice Sendak 's picture book classic – he voiced Carol, one of the wild things, an untamed, foul-mouthed figure.
  • (20) If people improved their consciousness, things would work better.