Rules for using some and any table. Some Any rules for use in various constructions

15.10.2019 Career and Work

Some are used in affirmative sentences, and the pronoun any It is customary to use it in negative and conditional sentences, as well as in general questions.

Most often these pronouns are used with the meaning some, some and several. When they are used before nouns in plural, then they are not translated into Russian as individual words.

He told me some interesting stories. He told me some interesting stories.

Have you got any articles about history? Do you have any historical articles?

She didn`t make any mistakes in her dictation. She didn't make a single mistake in her dictation.

Pronouns can also be used as plural nouns. Examples:

My friend wants to get some new books, and I bought some for him. My friend wanted to get new books and I bought some for him.

She asked me for some papers, but I hadn`t any. She asked me for some paper, but I didn't have any.

Different meanings of pronouns

Some and any can also be used with the meaning some amount, a little and some. Before uncountable nouns:

Give her some water, Fred. Give her some water, Fred.

There wasn`t any sugar in the kitchen. There was no sugar in the kitchen.

Have we bought any ink for our office? Did we buy ink for our office?

Some (and not the pronoun any) is found both in special questions and in general ones, which contain some kind of request.

Where can we get some wine? Where can we get wine?

Why didn't she buy some food? Why didn't she buy food?

Can Greg have some water? Could Greg have gotten some water?

With meaning, the part some is used before uncountable nouns. Examples:

Some of the wheat was packed bags. Some of the wheat was packed in bags.

Some as value approximately used before numerals (together with about).

There were some twenty people in the room. There were approximately twenty people in the room (twenty people).

He waited for friends some ten minutes. He waited for his friends for about ten minutes (ten minutes).

Pronoun any can be used in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences with the meaning anyone and everyone before countable and uncountable nouns.

We can buy this cheese at any shop. We can buy this cheese in any store.

Can I get this milk at any shop? Can I get this milk in any store?

Derivations from pronouns

The pronouns some and any combined with words such as one, body and thing They also form other indefinite pronouns: someone, somebody - someone and anyone, anyone, anybody, something - something and anything, anything - anything. Such pronouns are always used as subjects or objects. Examples:

Give me something to eat. Give me something to eat.

Someone is looking in the window. Someone is looking out the window.

There isn`t anybody in the classroom. There is no one in the classroom.

Did she meet anyone in the museum? Did she meet someone at the museum?

Pronoun no

The pronoun no is usually used as an adjective pronoun before nouns in both the singular and plural. U no V in this case same meaning as not... but(when it is found in singular countable nouns) and not... any(when it appears before plural countable nouns and before uncountable nouns).

I have no book. = I haven't a book. I don't have a book.

I have no time for a walk today. = I don't have time for a walk today.

Instead of no, the pronoun pope is used as a noun pronoun, which replaces a countable noun (singular and plural) and an uncountable noun.

A pronoun is a word that indicates an object or the quality of an object, but does not directly name it. Today we will look at indefinite pronouns( indefinite pronouns) some, any, no V English language.

Rules for using some, any, no

Before considering use cases some, any, no, let's find out the translation of these words.

  • Some– some, some, some, several.
  • Any translated in the same way, and can also be translated as "any".
  • No- none, not at all.

The general rule for these pronouns is: some, any, no must come before the noun they qualify. In this function they resemble articles ( a/an And the), which are also used before a noun. Let's look at the table.

Offer Example Countable Uncountable
+ We need an (some) apple.
some apples.
some rice.
some milk.
We don't need a (any) tomato.
any tomatoes.
any rice.
any sugar
? Do we need a (any) tomato?
any tomatoes?
any rice?
any sugar?

It is important to remember that it is better not to leave a noun unaccompanied by a pronoun or article. And now - to the rules of use some, any, no in English.

  1. Pronoun some used in affirmative sentences. But it can also be found in interrogative sentences, if we are talking about a request or offer to do something for someone.

    There is some portrait on the wall. – There’s a portrait hanging on the wall.

    The boys broke some windows in the house. – The boys broke several windows in the house.

    Would you like some beer? - Would you like some beer? (offer)

    Give me, please, some juice. - Give me some juice, please. (request)

    Please note that with singular words some translated as "some" ( some boy- some boy), with the same nouns in the plural - “several” ( some people– several people), but with uncountable nouns – “a little” ( some sugar- a little sugar).

  2. Pronoun any used in interrogative and negative sentences instead some and means “any, any, any.”

    Do you speak any foreign languages? – Do you speak any foreign languages?

    Did the manager take any decision? – Has the manager made any decisions?

    I did not find any mistakes. - I didn't find any errors.

    If any stands in an affirmative sentence, it is translated as “any”, “any”, “whatever”.

    Any vegetable is useful for your health. – Any vegetable is good for your health.

    Any girl wants to get married. - Every girl wants to get married.

    You can catch any of these buses. – You can take any of these buses.

  3. Watch a video from a native speaker to understand the difference between some And any.

  4. Pronoun no as a definition it is used with all types of nouns, both singular and plural. It expresses the absence of something and is used only in negative sentences.

    John has no furniture in his flat. John doesn’t have any furniture in his apartment.

    Fortunately there are no cars in this area. – Fortunately, there are no cars in this area.

    Please note the difference between not And no. Not we use for a verb, and no– before a noun:

    I have no telephone at home. = I have not got a telephone at home. – I don’t have a phone at home.

    There are no pupils in the classroom. = There are not any pupils in the classroom. - There are no students in the class.

    There is no information in the file. = There is not any information in the file. – There is no information in the file.

    You can use any option: no or not any. Just don’t mix them up, because there can only be one negative in an English sentence.

    There is no any difference. – There is not any difference or There is no difference. - No difference.

Combination of some, any, no with other words

When we talk about people ( people), things ( things), places ( places), we can add some, any, no and get new words. Let's look at the table to see which words we can add these pronouns to.

About Some + Any+ No +
People
people
Somebody, someone- someone, someone, someone, somebody Anybody, anyone– anyone, no one, anyone, anyone, anyone Nobody, no one- no one, no one
Things
Things
Something- something, something, anything Anything- anything Nothing- nothing, nothing
Places
Locations
Somewhere- somewhere, somewhere, somewhere Anywhere- anywhere, anywhere, anywhere Nowhere- nowhere, nowhere

And a few more rules that are worth paying attention to.

  1. We use somebody, something, somewhere etc., when we do not say exactly who, what or where performs the action.

    Somebody broke the window. - Someone broke the window.

    He has done something special for me. “He did something special for me.”

    I want to go somewhere nice this evening. – I want to go to some cool place in the evening.

  2. Use anybody, anything, anywhere in questions and with verbs in the negative form.

    We didn't do anything last night. – We didn’t do anything yesterday.

    My friend didn’t see anybody at the park. – My friend didn’t see anyone in the park.

  3. Choose nobody, nothing, nowhere, when you give a short answer, and also when the verb is in the affirmative form, but you still build a negative sentence.

    Who's in the bathroom? - Nobody. - Who's in the bathroom? - Nobody.

    We did nothing last night. – We didn’t do anything yesterday.

  4. Somebody, nobody used in the same way as someone, no one. There is no difference in their meanings.

    Somebody (someone) wants to see you. - Someone wants to see you.

As you can see, there are not many rules. If you study all this, the use some, any, no should not cause any difficulties. At the end, we offer you a downloadable tablet and a test so that you remember the rules for using these pronouns.

Test

Using some, any, no

Dear readers, you often ask us questions and ask for help. We are happy to help everyone, check your assignments and create articles with explanations. Lately we have received several letters asking us to explain how to use the words some, any, no in sentences. According to your requests, keep the long-awaited article! If you are not always sure what you are using some, any, no as it should, you will definitely need this information.

Any- a determiner, which implies a certain quantity, is used with countable and uncountable nouns when the specific quantity is not important or does not need to be specified. Any used in interrogative sentences ( any amount; any quantity; some), but, as a rule, is not translated into Russian. And any occurs in negative sentences ( not at all, not one, none), where it can be translated into Russian:

Have you got any questions? - Do you have (any, any) questions?

Did you buy any milk? - Did you buy (any; any quantity) milk?

Were there any celebrities? - Were there (any, any) celebrities there?

I cannot see any pictures. - I don’t see (any) pictures.

We have not read any letters. - We didn’t read (any) letters.

There is not any furniture in the room. - There is (no) furniture in the room.

No- a qualifier that denotes the complete absence of something. Used in sentences with a negative meaning. No- a stronger determinant than not any, conveys the idea of ​​absence more emphatically, although both sentences are translated identically into Russian:

Typically, plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns are used after no, but in certain contexts it is also possible to use no with singular countable nouns:

I have got no friends. - I do not have friends.

She has no husband. - She doesn't have a husband.

Having a sentence with the word some, you can make up its interrogative form (with any) and two negation sentences (c no And not any). If this topic is new to you, then at first you will still think about what word to use, but in the future you will learn to build different types statements automatically:

We introduced you to the basics of using the words some, any, no. However, that's not all. There are still some nuances, one might say exceptions, which it would also do you good to remember.

As stated above, some Most often used in affirmative sentences. Exceptions are interrogative sentences in which something is offered or asked:
Do you mind if...?
Can I have some...?
Would you like...?

Would you like some tea? - Would you like (some) tea?

Do you mind if I take some cake? - Do you mind if I take (a little) cake?

Can I have some water? - Can I have (some) water?

Some are also used in questions when they expect the answer “Yes”, and to make it clear that they are expecting an affirmative answer:

In addition to an indefinite quantity, some denotes the indefiniteness of the thing itself (something) when used with a count noun. If you want to show that an object or person is unknown or of little interest to you, do it using the word some:

As it turns out, some can be found in the question. May be, any used in affirmative statements? Yes, it is used. But not in all, but in some cases.

Any is used in, after if:

If you have any questions, just ask me. - If you have any questions, just ask me.

If they leave any messages, you must inform me. - If they leave any messages, you must inform me.

Any is used in statements to mean “any,” “whatever,” “it doesn’t matter which,” to emphasize the idea of ​​free choice:

You can choose any dress, it will be my present for you. - You can choose any dress, it will be my gift.

If you do not know the way to the laboratory, ask any student. - If you don’t know how to get to the laboratory, ask any student.

If any is used with this meaning, it is emphasized in the sentence.

After words with a negative meaning: never, hardly, without is used any, not some:

That's all you need to know about words some, any, no. Of course, each of these words has additional features, but we will talk about them in our next publications.

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We use some, any or the zero article before uncountable or plural nouns. In meaning they are close to indefinite articles a/an before singular nouns. For example:

  • Can I have a banana? - Can I have a banana? [One banana, any, unspecified].
  • Can I have some bananas? - Can I have some bananas? [Some].

Difference between some and the zero article:

There is often no significant difference between using the zero article and some. However, we use some, when we mean a limited amount of something (we don’t know the exact quantity or don’t want to say).

Some carries the meaning of "a certain amount of something." We don't use some, if we talk about something in general or mean a category of something. When we use some, we do not give the exact quantity, but we can find out if necessary. For example:

  • Can you buy some milk? -Can you buy some milk? [We don't know exactly how much, but we mean a certain amount of milk, not all the milk in the world].

On the other hand, we use the zero article when we are not talking about quantity. The article is not required when we mean the word expressed by a noun as a category, and not as a specific quantity:

  • We need Ø milk to make pancakes. - We need milk to make pancakes. [We talk about milk as a category without referring to a specific quantity of the product].
    More examples:
  • We need to buy Ø coffee. - We need to buy coffee. [Coffee as a category, not a specific quantity of product].
  • Would you like some coffee? - Would you like some coffee? [This refers to a certain amount of coffee, a cup of coffee, for example].
  • I ate some bread. - I ate some bread. [A certain amount of bread].
  • I ate Ø bread. - I ate bread. [It is bread, not rice or pasta].

Remember that often the difference in the use of some and the zero article is insignificant:

  • Do you want Ø tea? - Do you want some tea? [We don't mean quantity].
  • Do you want some tea? - Would you like some tea? [We mean a certain amount, but the meaning is the same as in the example above].

You can do this to consolidate the material described above.

Difference between some And any:

Usually we use any in the same cases as some: when we mean a certain amount of something. Remember that both some And any are used with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns, and only sometimes with singular countable nouns.

Usually some used in affirmative sentences, and any in interrogatives and negatives:

  • She bought some tomatoes. - She bought some tomatoes. [affirmative sentence]
  • She didn't buy any tomatoes. - She didn’t buy a few tomatoes. [negative sentence]
  • Did she buy any tomatoes? - She bought some tomatoes? [interrogative sentence]

Exceptions:

1: Any can be used in affirmative sentences when it does not matter which of the total number items in question. When any used in this meaning, most often it is used with singular countable nouns:

  • You can take any bus. - You can take any bus.
  • Pass me any glass - Pass me the glass.
  • Come over any Sunday. - Come any Sunday.

2: Any can also be used in affirmative sentences if it comes after a word that has a negative or limiting connotation ( never - never, hardly - barely, without - without):

  • She never eats any fruit. - She never eats fruit.
  • We hardly watch any television - He can barely watch TV.
  • Julia left the house without any money. - Julia left home without any money.

3: Some can be used in interrogative sentences when an affirmative answer is expected. For example, when making requests or suggestions:

  • Would you like some coffee? - Would you like some coffee?
  • Do you want some sandwiches? - Do you want sandwiches?
  • Could you give me some help? - Could you help me?
  • Could you pass me some sugar? - Could you pass me the sugar?

Compare the following two sentences:

  • Do you have any letters for me? - Do you have letters for me? [This is a question. I don't know if you really have letters for me].
  • Do you have some letters for me? - Are there any letters for me? [I expect there are letters for me].