Hi Claudette,

It depends on the context, but you’re right that in many cases “some” could be considered overly vague; however, the word “certain” doesn’t solve this problem. If it’s possible to use a more precise term, it’s always preferable to do so.

For example, instead of writing “some respondents agreed that…”, it would be better to either directly state the number or percentage, or use a more specific phrase: “a small minority of respondents agreed that…” or “approximately half of the respondents agreed that…”

I hope that helps!

What about the word ‘some’? It sounds like a ‘vague’ word for academic writing. Would using the word ‘ certain’ be a good replacement?

Thank you!