[Grammar] Usage of 'any'

[sky3120]

Happy New Year To You and Me

I hope that I will ask less English questions from now on.

1) Any child can do it.

2) Any children can do it.

I think #1 is correct and any child implies every child. Is #2 never possible or they mean difference between them?


3) Buy any book you want.

4) Buy any books you want.

I think both are correct and #3 implies that I am allowed to buy only one book.


4) Do you have any sister?

5) Do you have any sisters?

I think that both are okay and #4 implies "Do you have one sister?" and #5 implies "Do you have a few sisters?


So what I would like to know is if usage of any is different in each sentence? Thank you so much as always and have a good and safe day.

 

[BobK]

Happy New Year To You and Me

I hope that I will ask less English questions from now on. :-? An odd wish - good questions are part of good learning. Of course, there are times when you can answer your own questions. Incidentally, you'll raise fewer hackles if you observe the rule about less and fewer -on which the purists, I fear, are fighting a losing battle. Supermarkets will never put up signs saying '6 items or fewer', regardless of the 'disgusted' letters sent to the Daily Telegraph! ;-)

1) Any child can do it.:tick:

2) Any children can do it.:cross:

I think #1 is correct and any child implies every child. Is #2 never possible or they mean difference between them? I wouldn't say never - a chef might say 'Add the shrimps (fresh, if possible, but any shrimps will do - tinned or frozen...)'. But in that context the plural is wrong.


3) Buy any book you want.:tick:

4) Buy any books you want.:tick:

I think both are correct and #3 implies that I am allowed to buy only one book.:tick:


4) Do you have any sister?:-? It might rarely fit in a situation involving half-sisters and step-sisters, or with lots of paralinguistic stuff (gestures and pauses, intonation and so on), making it mean 'Do you have anyone [to go to - ] a sister [perhaps]?' but 99.9% of the time it's wrong.

5) Do you have any sisters?:tick:

I think that both are okay and #4 implies "Do you have one sister?":cross: (In that case the question would be 'Do you have a sister?' and #5 implies "Do you have a few sisters?


So what I would like to know is if usage of any is different in each sentence? Thank you so much as always and have a good and safe day.

Yes , it's different, sometimes right and sometimes wrong - and sometimes arguable. But what is true is that you can't make a general statement such as 'You can always use either the singular or the plural, but in every case the meanings will be different'. You have to consider context; you can never rely on just learning a finite set of prescriptive rules (although there are people who try to).

b