SOS ^_^

[Sir Shakespeare]

Hello everyone

Which one is correct ?? and why ? ?

I haven't any idea .

OR

I haven't any ideas .

*****

You can take any bus

Or

You can take any buses

And should I use the singular or the plural after (( any )) ??

Thanks in advance

[Ann1977]

I think we usually use a singular noun after "any"

"You can take any bus" means "You can take any one of the buses."
You could hardly get aboard more than one.


"I haven't any idea" is an expression in itself, so it has fixed the word "idea" in the singular.

But you can say, "I don't have any ideas to contribute to the Planning Committee" if that is what you mean.

[Sir Shakespeare]

I think we usually use a singular noun after "any"

"You can take any bus" means "You can take any one of the buses."
You could hardly get aboard more than one.


"I haven't any idea" is an expression in itself, so it has fixed the word "idea" in the singular.

But you can say, "I don't have any ideas to contribute to the Planning Committee" if that is what you mean.

Thank you very much , but I have found this sentence in my book :

(( Can you find any mistakes in this letter ?? ))

Why we use a plural noun not a singular one in this sentence and is it wrong to say :

(( Can you find any mistake in this letter ? ?))

I am still waiting

[Ann1977]

Thank you very much , but I have found this sentence in my book :

(( Can you find any mistakes in this letter ?? ))

Why we use a plural noun not a singular one in this sentence and is it wrong to say :



(( Can you find any mistake in this letter ? ?))

I am still waiting

The word "any" can mean "one, some, every, or all"

For a bus, it would mean "any one of the buses"

For mistakes, it would (usually) mean "some mistakes"
But you might say:
- "Do you see any fault in this work?"
- "This baby is without any sin."

And yet you could say:
- "I didn't find any faults in this work."
- "Babies don't have any sins."

So you must decide if there is "mistake" in the letter in the sense of "wrongness, fault," or if there are "some mistakes" in the letter in the sense of "some errors."

I think it is quite clear in the case of "mistakes in a letter" that the meaning is "some specific errors," so that means you would use the plural of the word "mistakes."

If the question had been about "fault," I think the decision would have been much harder.