"Some/any" in my sentences

[Rachel Adams]

Is it wrong to omit "some" and "any" when talking about "food"?
If I am talking about something else would it be unnatural to omit them?

1. "There is some food on the table."

2. "There isn't any food on the table."

 

[Rover_KE]

Is it wrong to omit "some" and "any" when talking about "food"?
If I am talking about something else would it be unnatural to omit them?

...

Instead of making us get our heads round these convoluted questions, just ask 'Are these sentences natural?'

 

[Rachel Adams]

You have given us far too many variables to talk about in one thread, Rachel:

Sentence patterns:

There is (some) .../There isn't (any) ...
I bought (some) .../I didn't buy (any) ...
I don't have (any) ...

uncountable nouns - food
countable nouns - mushrooms

Narrow the range of your question.

Can I omit "some" and "any" in my sentences before both countable and uncountable nouns?

 

[Tdol]

I wouldn't omit in #2.

 

[Rachel Adams]

You have given us far too many variables to talk about in one thread, Rachel:

Sentence patterns:

There is (some) .../There isn't (any) ...
I bought (some) .../I didn't buy (any) ...
I don't have (any) ...

uncountable nouns - food
countable nouns - mushrooms

Narrow the range of your question.

I removed countable words. I will start a new thread for them.

 

[Rachel Adams]

1. "There is food on the table." That's possible.

2. "There isn't food on the table." That's unlikely.

Judging by the answers I received is it wrong to say that before uncountable nouns describing food in negative sentences it's wrong to omit "any"?

1. "There isn't rice on the table.

2. "There isn't any rice on the table."

But if I have countable nouns food or not "some" and "any" can be omitted.

3. "I don't have any pens." I don't have pens."

4. "I have some textbooks." "I have textbooks."

 

[emsr2d2]

Judging by the answers I received, is it wrong to say that before uncountable nouns describing food in negative sentences it's wrong to omit "any"?

1. "There isn't rice on the table.

2. "There isn't any rice on the table."

No, it's not wrong to say that. For the negative version, you have two natural options:

1. There isn't any rice on the table.
2. There is no rice on the table.

Not "There isn't rice on the table".

 

[Rachel Adams]

No, it's not wrong to say that. For the negative version, you have two natural options:

1. There isn't any rice on the table.
2. There is no rice on the table.

Not "There isn't rice on the table".

But if I have countable nouns both "any" and "some" can be omitted. Right?

 

[GoesStation]

But if I have countable nouns both "any" and "some" can be omitted. Right?

I would not omit "any".

 

[Rachel Adams]

No, it's not wrong to say that. For the negative version, you have two natural options:

1. There isn't any rice on the table.
2. There is no rice on the table.

Not "There isn't rice on the table".

And for the positive version "There is rice on the table" is also not wrong, is it? Without "some".

 

[GoesStation]

And for the positive version "There is rice on the table" is also not wrong, is it? Without "some".

It's correct, but including "some" is, I think, much more common.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It's correct, but including "some" is, I think, much more common.

Can ''There is some milk'' and ''There is milk on the table'' mean that it was spilled on the table? And ''There isn't any milk'' not ''There isn't milk'' which is wrong (as I understand from the discussions) mean the same?