Help me

[Valynncia1]

what is wrong with this sentence?

Has any of the witnesses been sworn in yet?

 

[MikeNewYork]

The opening verb should be "have" -- plural.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Has anyone of the witnesses been sworn in yet?'
Is it correct?

 

[Skrej]

No.

You could ask "Has anyone been sworn in yet?"

 

[Matthew Wai]

"Has anyone been sworn in yet?"

But it says nothing about the person's being a witness.

Not a teacher.

 

[mawes12]

But it says nothing about the person's being a witness.

Not a teacher.

I think anyone is witness and anyone is an indefinite pronoun.

No teacher.

 

[Skrej]

True, but you can't pair 'anyone' with another noun/pronoun.

If you want to specify witnesses, you'll have to use the "Have any of the witnesses" construction.

Aside from the jurors, who take their oath as a group before the trial begins, witnesses are the only other people sworn in, as far as I can recollect.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Valynncia:

You may be interested in what one expert says:

"When any ... [is] followed by of + plural, [it] is usually used with singular verbs in formal style in British English. Plural verbs are common in informal British usage and generally in American English."



-- Michael Swan, Practical English Usage (1995 edition), entry (NOT page) 509.5.

 

[Matthew Wai]

True, but you can't pair 'anyone' with another noun/pronoun.

Is 'anyone' wrongly used below?
“Can anyone of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46)

 

[SoothingDave]

Is 'anyone' wrongly used below?
“Can anyone of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46)

It is incorrect. Can any one of you...

 

[Skrej]

You need to realize that you're quoting a Bible verse. All Bibles themselves are translations, and as such will be translated differently. Some of those versions use archaic English as well.

Many translations of that verse actually use a 'who among you' structure. Check out this comparative list of different versions of that same verse.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Has any one of the witnesses been sworn in yet?'
Is it grammatical?

 

[Skrej]

Grammatical, yes, but not so natural. It sounds like you're trying to confirm whether just one witness has been sworn in, as opposed to asking whether or not there are witnesses sworn in in general.

If I'm asking "Have any of the witnesses been sworn in yet", I just want to know whether or not they've started swearing in witnesses. I really don't care how many have actually been sworn in.

 

[Matthew Wai]

“Can anyone of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46)

I don't have a photographic memory, so there might actually be a space between 'any' and 'one' in the original.

Not a teacher.