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Can I use the expression "for some impulse" similar to "for some reason"? It doesn't sound right. How to use "impulse" correctly, when I want to mention the urge and not the reason? I saw online the expression "on an impulse", does "an" mean the same as if it was "some [kind of]"? Or should I use "on some impulse"?

Google search for "for some impulse" give expressions where either a comma is inside or a noun follows (or at least the first dozen or so and I stopped checking more) so it is not what I seek for, I guess it is incorrect. Searching for "on an impulse" and "on some impulse" give meaningful results, and I guess "on some impulse" that would be correct - as an example, any sentence that contains "for some reason" does it, like:

I've never thought about it, but for some reason I bought a rocketship today.

I believe it should be like this when mentioning the urge:

I've never thought about it, but on some impulse I bought a rocketship today.

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    Have you done any searching for that phrase? What makes you think it might be good English?
    – gotube ♦
    May 5 at 19:33
  • @gotube If you mean Google search, I've done, but the first 3 pages are full of expressions where either a comma is inside or a noun follows so it is not what I seek for. As I mentioned, I don't think it is correct, but I'm not sure.
    – Dávid Laczkó
    May 5 at 19:43
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    'For some reason' implies that you don't know what the reason was. If you do something on [an] impulse, the impulse was a sudden urge to do it - no uncertainty about it.
    – Kate Bunting
    May 5 at 19:57
  • The closest I can think of is, "Following some impulse". We don't use "for" and "impulse" together.
    – gotube ♦
    May 5 at 19:57
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    Would you please add some examples of complete sentences using the phrase you are asking about? Does changing "reason" to "impulse" make sense if you read them out loud?
    – Peter Jennings
    May 5 at 22:56

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Can I use the expression "for some impulse" similar to "for some reason"?

No, you shouldn't. We don't usually use the preposition "for" with the object "impulse".

How to use "impulse" this way correctly?

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "this way", but you might say that somebody did something "due to some impulse", "because of some impulse", etc. (By the way, "impulse" is not a common word, so people might find some expressions using that word more natural than others. In some contexts another word--"compulsion", "whim", etc.--might work better. Reading and listening to native speakers will help.)

I saw online the expression "on an impulse", does "an" mean the same as if it was "some [kind of]"?

The article "an" has its usual meaning of indicating an unspecified item. According to M-W:

used as a function word before singular nouns when the referent is unspecified

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  • I added some clarification of "this way". The only way of reading & listening to native speakers for me right now is this forum. Using another word opens up a question for each what preposition to use, so for now I stick to "impulse".
    – Dávid Laczkó
    May 6 at 7:59

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