What part of speech is “somebody”
Pronoun
Definition:
somebody is a singular, indefinite pronoun used to refer to a person who is unspecified. It can also be used as a general term when referring to an unspecified person in a hypothetical situation. It can only be used as a third-person singular pronoun, meaning that it is used in place of another noun and replaces it with the pronoun 'he,' 'she,' or 'they' depending on the context. For example, 'Somebody needs to clean up this mess.'
Rules:
it should always be used in a singular form, even when the context calls for a plural (e.g 'Somebody left their hat behind.') It should also not be used in first-person or second-person contexts (e.g 'I/you can be somebody').
Examples:
1. Somebody needs to look into the situation.
2. Has somebody claimed the prize yet?
3. I heard that somebody managed to climb up the building in one hour.
Tips:
a common mistake when using 'somebody' is to treat it as if it were an adverb, which will lead to a incorrect sentence (e.g 'I need somebody cleaning up the mess.'). Additionally, it should not be confused with someone which is the formal word for the same concept.