"Anyone" vs "everyone"

[subhajit123]

Hi there, What's the difference between 'anyone' and 'everyone' in the following sentences?


1- I will back anyone/everyone who tries to fight with this evil man.

2- Anyone/everyone who has given birth to a baby knows how much pain it takes to give birth to a baby.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi there. What's the difference between 'anyone' and 'everyone' in the following sentences?


1- I will back anyone/everyone who tries to fight with this evil man.
I'd use "anyone".

2- Anyone/everyone who has given birth to a baby knows how much pain it takes to give birth to a baby.
You can use either.

See above. Note that there is no need to repeat "give birth to a baby" in 2. You can just say "Anyone/Everyone who has given birth [to a baby] knows how much it hurts." As you can see, you don't even need "to a baby" the first time.

 

[subhajit123]

Does using anyone instead of everyone make the first sentence ungrammatical? So far, I have used them interchangeably in my speaking, though I see people use anyone more often than everyone in this kind of context. Please explain.

 

[jutfrank]

They are both possible, but have different meanings.

Your question is about the normal difference of use between anyone and everyone. Have you already tried to find out the difference?

 

[GoesStation]

"Anyone" means "any single person". "Everyone" means "every person, regardless of number". Many times, either word is possible and would effectively mean the same thing. There are other cases where only one or the other word makes sense.

 

[subhajit123]

They are both possible, but have different meanings.

Your question is about the normal difference of use between anyone and everyone. Have you already tried to find out the difference?

Yes, I know the difference. In the first sentence I think both can be used. As Emsr2d2 said in the above she would use anyone. I have also seen people prefer anyone in cases like that. So I wanted to know if they were interchangeable in the first sentence.