Use of the word "any"

[Kenneth M. Lin]

I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though that
any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?

[Einde O'Callaghan]

Post by Kenneth M. Lin
I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though that
any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?

"Any" is used in questions and negative sentences before plural
countable nouns and uncountable nouns (which by definition are singular).

"Any quuestions?" as a query is an abbreviated form of "Does anybody
have any questions?" - there ius no implication that it's regerring to a
single question.

There is another usage of "any" in positive sentences that I won't go
into here, but this follows the same rule - before plural countable
nouns and uncountable nouns (which are always singular).

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

[Egbert White]

On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:28:25 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"

Post by Kenneth M. Lin
I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though that
any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?

A dictionary can. For example, the on-line dictionary at m-w.com has,
among other definitions of the adjective 'any':

one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity

and for the pronoun 'any' it says in part:

any thing or things

[Kenneth M. Lin]

So how come people say "Anybody there?" instead of "Anybodies there?"

Post by Egbert White
On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:28:25 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"

Post by Kenneth M. Lin
I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though that
any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?

A dictionary can. For example, the on-line dictionary at m-w.com has,
one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity
any thing or things
--
Egbert White, | "I love Americans, but not when they try
Planet Earth | to talk French. What a blessing it is that
| that they never try to talk English."
| -- Saki's Mrs. Mebberley

[Egbert White]

On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:16:57 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"

Post by Kenneth M. Lin

Post by Egbert White
On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:28:25 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"

Post by Kenneth M. Lin
I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though that
any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?

A dictionary can. For example, the on-line dictionary at m-w.com has,
one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity
any thing or things
| -- Saki's Mrs. Mebberley

So how come people say "Anybody there?" instead of "Anybodies there?"

'Anybody' is a pronoun that can only refer to one person, according to
both an American unabridged Webster's and a British shorter Oxford
dictionary. For example, the British entry for 'anybody' is:

| A person, no matter who; whichever person.

If you want to ask if there are multiple bodies there, then you can
write 'Are there any bodies there?' but you mustn't write 'Are there
anybodies there?' just as you mustn't write 'How many hes were
present?' Pluralizing 'anybody' to get 'anybodies' is the same
mistake as pluralizing 'he' to get 'hes' or 'him' to get 'hims.' It
seems as if it could be permissible, but it just isn't.

Note that your original point was about 'Any questions,' which is okay
because, according to a shorter Oxford dictionary, 'any' means 'any
thing or things.' But, again, 'anybody' can only refer to one person,
while 'any body' refers to one body and 'any bodies' refers to more
than one.

There's a big difference between 'anybody' and 'any body,' and it's a
mistake to try to analyze them as if they are the same.