[Grammar] Any

[Will17]

Hello!

Is "has" wrong in this case?:

"Has any of you seen my daughter?"


Thank you
W

 

[5jj]

Hello!

Is "has" wrong in this case?: "Has any of you seen my daughter?"

No. We read it as "Has any (one) of you seen my daughter?"

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello!

Is "has" wrong in this case?:

"Has any of you seen my daughter?"


Thank you
W

I would use "have" but "has" would be OK with "any one of you".

 

[5jj]

Snap!

 

[Will17]

Snap!

What do you mean?

 

[AmerikaMagyar]

"Has any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "any"?

"Have any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "you"?

 

[AmerikaMagyar]

What do you mean?

Definition and pronunciation of snap | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
(British English, informal) people say snap! to show that they are surprised when two things are the same
Snap! I've just bought that CD too!

 

[5jj]

Definition and pronunciation of snap | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
(British English, informal) people say snap! to show that they are surprised when two things are the same
Snap! I've just bought that CD too!

AmerikaMagyar is right. I said snap! to Bhaisahab as his (almost) identical answer appeared a couple of seconds after mine.

 

[5jj]

"Has any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "any"?
Yes. (But see my answer to your second question)
"Have any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "you"?
Some would say that the grammatical subject is 'any', though others would say that it is 'any of you'. Both would agree that it is not 'you'.

5

 

[corum]

Note that when any of is followed by a plural subject, the verb can be singular or plural. Singular verb is more common in formal style.

PEU, Swan, 55.7., p57

Group A determiners: These help to identify things - to say whether they are known or unknown to the hearer, which one the speaker is talking about, whether the speaker is thinking of particular examples or speaking in general.
These are three kinds:
articles: a/an, the
possessives: my, your, whose, one's, etc.
demonstratives: this, these, that, those
We cannot put to group A determiners together.

Group B determiners: Most of these are quantifiers: they say how much or how many we are talking about. The most important are:
some, any, no
each, every, either, neither
much, many, more, most, (a) little, less, least,, few, fewer, fewest, enough, several
all, both, half
what, whatever, which, whichever
Some group B determiners are used with singular nouns, some with plurals, some with uncountables, some with more than one kind of noun.
We can put group B determiners together if the combination makes sense.

Group B + Group A determiners: any of the people:
Group B determiners can be used directly before nouns, without of.
Have you got any [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] sugar?
But if we want to put a group B determiner before a noun which has a group A
determiner, we have to use of.

"Has any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "any"?

"Have any of you seen my daughter?"
What's the subject of this sentence? Is it "you"?

Have [some people] seen her?
Has/Have [any of you]seen her?

In both sentences above, the part in bold within [] is the subject and the red part is the head of the noun phrase that realizes it.

Amerikamagyar, are you Hungarian?

 

[corum]

IMHO, any of is a phrasal determiner, which qualifies the core of the subject, the head, you, in a similar fashion as some in some people.

 

[lauralie2]

Have [some people] seen her?
Has/Have [any of you]seen her?

In both sentences above, the part in bold within [] is the subject and the red part is the head of the noun phrase that realizes it.

If substantive, yes, 'some' can function as a subject; i.e., Some say that, but in our example above, 'some' is a quantifier in form and determiner in function, not a subject on its own:

• Have some people seen her? <subject>
  • Cf. Have some seen her? <subject>

 

[lauralie2]

IMHO, any of is a phrasal determiner, which qualifies the core of the subject, the head, you, in a similar fashion as some in some people.

Agreed. :up:

 

[5jj]

Have [some people] seen her?
Has/Have [any of you]seen her?

In both sentences above, the part in bold within [] is the subject and the red part is the head of the noun phrase that realizes it.

That's one way of analysing it, but there are others.

 

[lauralie2]

That's one way of analysing it, but there are others.

Well, I guess the second one "any of you" could be parsed as a substantive noun (any) + a prepositional phrase (of you), giving the semantics "Have any seen her?", which is OK from an elliptical stance.

In looking at the non-elliptical reading, though, the semantics of "any of you" if split alters the meaning.

To me, it's an all-in-one phrase that just happens to act as subject. Same holds true for the phrase "some people."

 

[corum]

but in our example above, 'some' is a quantifier in form and determiner in function, not a subject on its own

I never said it was the subject. Reread my previous post. ;-)
BTW, determiner is a word class. Word class is a formal category. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[lauralie2]

I never said it was the subject. That's correct. You never said it was. (Why tell me?)

LL2

 

[5jj]

:lol: