Meaning & use
sum
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Meanings
nouncountablemathematics
The number you get when you add two or more numbers together.
Grammar: Often used with of: the sum of 4 and 5.
Patterns
- the sum of something and something
- the sum of something
The sum of three and seven is ten.
Check that the sum of the angles equals 180 degrees.
She wrote the sum at the bottom of the column.
nouncountable
An amount of money.
Grammar: Usually has an adjective: a large sum, a small sum.
Patterns
- a sum of money
- a large sum
He paid a hefty sum for the vintage car.
The museum raised a small sum from the bake sale.
A modest sum was set aside for repairs.
nounsingular
A whole formed by combining parts, or the entire amount of something.
Grammar: Appears in phrases like the sum of its parts and the sum total.
Patterns
- the sum of something
- the sum total
The sum of her experience made her ideal for the job.
The team is greater than the sum of its parts.
That was the sum of what they knew about the case.
nouncountableBritish
A simple arithmetic problem, especially one a child does in school.
Grammar: Mainly British; do sums means practice arithmetic.
Patterns
- do a sum
- do sums
The teacher set us ten sums for homework.
He is good at doing sums in his head.
Can you help me with this sum?
verbtransitivemathematics
To add up the total of several numbers or quantities.
Grammar: Takes an object; sum up also means to summarize.
Patterns
- sum something
- sum something up
Sum the five scores and divide by five.
The program sums each column automatically.
She summed the costs before ordering.
Word forms
| plural | sums |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sums |
| past tense | summed |
| past participle | summed |
| -ing form | summing |
Common combinations
- a large sum of money
- She inherited a large sum of money.
- the sum total
- Is that the sum total of your complaint?
- sum up
- Let me sum up the main points.
- the sum of its parts
- A good orchestra is more than the sum of its parts.
- a tidy sum
- The painting sold for a tidy sum.
Synonyms and how they differ
- total
- Total is the everyday word for a final amount and is interchangeable in most arithmetic, while sum is more common in math.
- amount
- Amount is vague about quantity, whereas sum for money names a specific figure.
- aggregate
- Aggregate is formal and suggests a whole gathered from separate items.
- summarize
- Summarize fits the verb sum up in the sense of briefly restating, but it is more formal.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sum or some?
sum vs some
Some is a determiner meaning an unspecified amount, and it sounds the same as sum in many accents but is spelled differently.
Practice
The charity received a ____ of fifty thousand dollars from an anonymous donor.
Choose one answer.
A sum of money is the standard phrase. Some sounds similar but cannot be followed by of in this way as a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sum”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.