According to what I've read, the use of something, instead of anything, here, shows the person who says it is certain that he will receive an affirmative answer. In other words, he knows that the other person wants to drink something.
Thank you, I never thought of it this way; it's thought-provoking. I would replace "is certain" with "expects". I don't have to be certain to say that. It's enough that I feel the affirmative answer is likely.
It seems to be a good rule of thumb but it lacks depth in my opinion and can be misleading. I think it could be better for a learner to look at the real meanings (whatever that means...) of "some" and "any".
1) Is there somebody here?
2) Is there anybody here?
These questions are identical in terms of simple truth-false logic. The answer to both is "yes" when there is at least one person there and it's "no" when there are no people there. There is a difference between these sentences though. The first could be said on hearing a noise leading the speaker to a
supposition that there
might be somebody there.
The second could be said by a person entering an empty shop. In an open shop there usually is a shop assistant. The person may suppose there is a shop assistant somewhere in the shop, but lacking any evidence they will say 2).
This might indeed make us think that the difference between "some" and "any" is (in this case) about our predictions or suppositions--in some way. And I think it is, in some way, true. But I also believe there is a deeper reason for such choices. Of course, it still must be a reason connected to the speaker's view of the situation--I did not forget that the questions are identical truth-wise (I welcome any suggestions of a better adverb).
I believe the word "some" has a meaning similar to that of "certain", the meaning of "determinate but unknown or unspecified". (I see in dictionaries that "certain" is given the meaning of "indeterminate" too. I'm not convinced that it can really be used this way, but it's not the meaning I have in mind now anyway.) When I say "somebody", it means that I think of a specific person. I don't know this person, but they are specific--in this case they are the person who made the noise.
When I say "anybody" I don't think of a specific person. There is no way of specifying the "body"; there is no focus. Anybody could be in the shop. (Well, of course not exactly anybody--my very sick aunt can't be there, because she can't get off her bed--but I simply don't think this way and we must remember that we're in my mind now.)
This distinction might be unconscious. It surely was in my case, as I've been trying to get it for more than an hour now. I believe I'm on the right track though. I think it should also apply to asking about "something to drink" and "anything to drink". It seems obvoius that "anything to drink" is not specific, but I'm having trouble explaining why "something to drink" is specific. I hope someone can see this better than I.
