某 mǒu some
some; someone; a certain; somebody or something indefinite
How it came to be
The sweet block, a mouth with something held on the tongue, over a tree. A tree with sweet fruit, a particular one whose name nobody says. That is a certain something.
用法
- A written/formal placeholder meaning "a certain, some (unspecified)", used to deliberately withhold identifying details - 某公司 mǒu gōngsī, "a certain company", common in news reports and legal writing.
- 某人 mǒurén means "someone/a certain person" and can be used pointedly in speech to avoid naming someone directly, sometimes with a teasing or accusatory tone: 某人又迟到了 mǒu rén yòu chídào le, "someone (you know who) was late again".
- 某某 mǒumǒu is a doubled placeholder like "so-and-so", used for anonymized names.
- It's more formal than 有些 or a bare indefinite "some" - don't use it as a casual translation of English "some" in ordinary conversation.