quantifiers - English 4 U

QUANTIFIERS
Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO
Some + / ?
-thing
-body
-one
-where
Any - / + / ?
No +
Anybody, nobody and somebody mean the same as anyone, no-one and nobody respectively. No-
one can also be written no one.
Positive statements use Some - SOMETHING, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE
 Someone is sleeping in my bed.
 He knows someone in New York
 Susie has somebody staying with her.
 He saw something in the garden.
 There is something to drink in the fridge.
 I left my glasses somewhere in the house.
 I want to go somewhere else.
Negative statements use Any - ANYBODY,
ANYTHING, ANYWHERE:
Positive statements use No -
NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE
 She didn't go anywhere last night.
 There isn’t anybody here.
 There wasn’t anyone to meet me.
 He hasn’t learnt anything on the course.
 They won’t eat anything except sweets.
 There isn’t anywhere as beautiful as
Paris.
 She went nowhere last night.
 There is nobody here.
 There was no-one to meet me.
 He hasn’t learnt nothing on the course.
 They eat nothing except sweets.
 There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris.
Instead of I did not see anybody there, we can say I saw nobody there, but we cannot use two negative
words: *I did not see nobody there.
There is a difference between nothing, nobody, nowhere and not ....anything, not ...anybody, not
.....anywhere:
 I don't know anything about it. (= neutral, no emphasis)
 I know nothing about it (= more emphatic, maybe defensive)
ANY can also mean “every” and be used in positive statements to mean 'no matter which', 'no matter
who', 'no matter what':
 You can borrow any of my books.
 They can choose anything from the menu.
 You may invite anybody to dinner, I don't mind.
 Anyone can do it, it’s very easy.
Questions use Some or Any:
There are many situations where Some or Any can be used. However, Some is normally used to offer
something, to ask for something or when we expect a positive response:
 Are you looking for someone?
 Is there somebody who speaks English here?
 Was there anybody in the house?
 Does anyone have the time?
 Would you like something to drink?
 Is there anything in that drawer?
 Did you go somewhere last night?
 Have you seen my car keys anywhere?

Composés de some, any, no
Somebody/someone / Anybody/anyone quelqu’un
 Dans les phrases affirmatives on emploie somebody/someone et dans les phrases négatives, on
emploie anybody/anyone.
Someone is hiding behind the curtains. Il y a quelqu’un qui se cache derrière les rideaux.
Is anybody there? Il y a quelqu’un
Not anybody/anyone / nobody/no one personne
 Anybody/anyone s’emploient en corrélation avec not alors que nobody/no one s’emploient avec un
verbe à la forme affirmative:
There isn’t anybody here = There’s nobody here. Il n y a personne.
No one wants to go. Personne ne veut y aller.
Something, anything, nothing s’emploient également de la même façon que some, any et no.
I’m going to have something to eat. Je vais manger quelque chose.
Have you had anything to eat? As-tu mangé quelque chose ?
We have nothing to eat. = we don’t have anything to eat. Nous n’avons rien à manger.