[Grammar] Did she make any comment about Eddie?

[kadioguy]

comment
COUNTABLE/UNCOUNTABLE
a written or spoken remark giving an opinion

make a comment: Did she make any comment about Eddie?

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/comment_1?q=comment+

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I am wondering why the "comment" above is in the singular.

According to the following explanation, "We use weak form any only with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns".

Is the "comment" in "any comment" a uncountable noun? (But it says "make a comment".)

What do you think?
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https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/語法/英式語法/any

We use weak form any only with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns:

[talking about fuel for the car]

Do I need to get any petrol? (+ uncountable noun)

There aren’t any clean knives. They’re all in the dishwasher. (+ plural noun)

Warning: We don’t use any with this meaning with singular countable nouns:

Have you got any Italian cookery books? (or … an Italian cookery book?)

Not: Have you got any Italian cookery book?

 

[kadioguy]

Could members join this discussion?

1. Does the example sentence above sound natural to you?

2. What do you think about the fact that the example sentence fail to follow the rule from the Cambridge dictionary? Should we say that there are some exceptions to that rule?

 

[Tarheel]

"Did she make any comments" seems more natural to me. But I wouldn't worry about it either.

 

[kadioguy]

"Did she make any comments" seems more natural to me. But I wouldn't worry about it either.

What do you think about the rule from the Cambridge dictionary? Should we say that there are some exceptions to that?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

comment
COUNTABLE/UNCOUNTABLE
a written or spoken remark giving an opinion

make a comment: Did she make any comment about Eddie?

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/comment_1?q=comment+

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I am wondering why the "comment" above is in the singular.

If you want to know whether she commented, you can find out by asking if she had a comment.

According to the following explanation, "We use weak form any only with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns".

Is the "comment" in "any comment" a uncountable noun?

No.

(But it says "make a comment".)

Yes, it does.

What do you think?

It's fine as written. The plural, comments, would also be fine and would mean the same thing.
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https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/語法/英式語法/any

We use weak form any only with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns:

You can use it with singular nouns, too:

- Can you name any person who speaks perfect English?
- There isn't any reason for saying that.
- Any dog with a bone is happy.

I don't know why you call it weak.

[talking about fuel for the car]

Do I need to get any petrol? (+ uncountable noun)

That's fine.

There aren’t any clean knives. They’re all in the dishwasher. (+ plural noun)

That's fine.

Warning: We don’t use any with this meaning with singular countable nouns:

Have you got any Italian cookbooks? (or … an Italian cookbook?)

Those are fine.

Not: Have you got any Italian cookbook?

You're right. That's not natural. But you can say: Do you know of any Italian cookbook with a recipe for spumoni?

There isn't any rule against following any with a countable singular noun.

 

[kadioguy]

To clarify, the following part is from English Grammar Today, from the Cambridge dictionary website. That's not my own opinion. If that interests you, please click on the link below for further information.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/語法/英式語法/any

We use weak form any only with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns:

[talking about fuel for the car]

Do I need to get any petrol? (+ uncountable noun)

There aren’t any clean knives. They’re all in the dishwasher. (+ plural noun)

Warning: We don’t use any with this meaning with singular countable nouns:

Have you got any Italian cookery books? (or … an Italian cookery book?)

Not: Have you got any Italian cookery book?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

To clarify, the following part is from English Grammar Today, from the Cambridge dictionary website. That's not my own opinion. If that interests you, please click on the link below for further information.

It's interesting that the editors have never heard of a cookbook.

You wanted an opinion. Maybe the US and UK use any differently. Anyhow, I can have any opinion I want!

 

[GoesStation]

It's interesting that the editors have never heard of a cookbook.

Being lexicographers, they're certainly familiar with the American name for what they know as a cookery book.