Tip 15
Some\Any - Part 3
in the two previous tips we mostly learned the meaning of the quantifiers -some- and -any-
But how do we use them correctly?
There are three things we need to remember when using these quantifiers:
- We use -some mostly in affirmative and interrogative sentences.
- we use -any- mostly when making questions and negatives.
- some isn’t used in negative sentences.
– I have some money. (affirmative)
– Do you have some money? Do you have any money? (interrogative)
– I don’t have any money. (negative)
– I don’t have some money – (incorrect sentence)
The words -some- and -any- are in fact very important building blocks in the English language - go over the words from the chart below and check their meaning in the dictionary:
Some
something | somewhat | someone | someday |
somewhere | someway | somebody | some sort |
some kind | somehow | sometimes | someplace |
Any
| anyone | anybody | anything |
| anyway | anytime | anymore |
| anyplace | anyhow | anyday |
Let's look at a few examples of these words in sentence:
Some
- I need to tell you something
- Someone told me that you’re leaving tomorrow
- Someday I will be a millionaire!
- He somehow managed to escape
- It’s somewhat true
- Is there someway to solve this?
- The restaurant is somewhere around here
- Does somebody here know how to get to the train station?
- This is some sort\kind of animal
- He somehow succeeded to win the game
- Sometimes she goes to work at 9 and sometimes at 8
- I want to go someplace exciting
Any
- Do you know anyone? I don’t know anyone around here
- Anybody who wants some chocolate cake, raise their hand
- Do you need anything? I don’t need anything
- Anyway\anyhow… I decided not to go to the party eventually
- You can come visit me anytime, my door is always open
- I don’t want anymore cake
- when is the package coming? Anyday now
- Anyplace there is sunshine there is life
As we can see, -some- and -any have many relatives and are very important words in the English language.
Next time you’re writing an email or having a chat with a native English speaker, try to implement what you’ve learned in the last 3 tips about -some- and -any-, and you will quickly notice a great improvement.
