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QUANTIFIER COUNTABLE (SINGULAR) COUNTABLE (PLURAL) UNCOUNTABLE none of none of the books none of the information one one book one piece of information several several books some some books some information the the book the books the information
(continued)
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6.2 any versus some The following rules apply to any and
some and derivatives (e.g.
something, anywhere, anyone )
1. As a general rule
any is used in negative phrases and
some in affirmative phrases.
2.
Not … any = zero,
not … some = not all.
3.
Any is used to indicate doubt, we are not sure whether the event will take place or not.
4. If you use
any in a sentence that contains no negation and which is not covered by Rule 3, then it means one thing or person at random from all the individuals in the world.
some and
someone mean one particular thing or person, although exactly what or who is not important.
5.
Any is used in questions
where the answer is not known some is used in questions where the expected answer is affirmative (e.g. in offers and some kinds of requests.
ANY SOME 1 This did not give
any interesting results. This gave
some interesting results.
2 We were
not able to understand any of the figures they were all too complicated and unclear. We were
not able to fulfill
some of the referees requests, specifically the first and last requests.
3 The table shows
significant results, if
any , of each test. The table shows
some significant results, in fact … Some tests may not have given significant results.
3 If you need
any clarifications, then do not hesitate to contact me. I need
some clarifications with regard to points 3 and 8. I don’t know if you require clarifications or not.
4
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