Meaning & use
summat
Last updated
Meaning
pronouninformaldialectBritishregional
Something; an unspecified thing or amount.
Grammar: Used like 'something' as a pronoun, often after verbs like 'say', 'want', or 'have'.
Patterns
- summat to eat
- summat else
- say summat
I'm hungry—let's get summat to eat.
He didn't say summat about the meeting, so I forgot.
There's summat strange about this place.
Common combinations
- summat else
- Do you want summat else, or are you done?
- summat to eat
- We should find summat to eat before the shops close.
- summat like that
- It was a thriller, or summat like that.
- say summat
- If you know summat, you should say summat to the police.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: summat or something?
summat vs something
The standard form; 'summat' is a dialect variant used mainly in northern England and informal speech.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'summat' correctly?
Choose one answer.
In northern British dialects, 'summat' means 'something' and is used in positive statements like 'wanted summat to drink'. Option An is wrong because 'summat' is not used in standard negative sentences (use 'anything' there); option C is wrong because 'summat' does not mean 'somewhat'; option D is wrong because 'summat' is not used for approximate times.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “summat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.