somewhere vs. anywhere

[bruxinha]

Good evening!

Would it be grammatically correct (or at least acceptable) to say "anywhere" in the following sentence?

"We can't buy her anything expensive. Maybe we can take her to a different place, ___________________ with a beautiful view to have a picnic!"
(This was taken from an exam, the answer key shows "somewhere" as the correct answer.)

Thank you very much for your answers! Feel free to ask for more detail, if needed.

 

[emsr2d2]

We need more detail - "an exam" isn't enough information about the source.

 

[bruxinha]

Well, it is from a written test for learners of English as a foreign language in their second year of learning (6th grade). It was made by a group of teachers from a highschool, so there isn't really a source to it (like a book, for instance). Students had to complete the dialogue with words from a box (some, any, something, anything, and so on). There were more words in the box than they needed, so they had to choose carefully.
If you need more context, I can write the whole exercise (e.g. the complete dialogue) here.

 

[probus]

It's poor question design because both somewhere and anywhere are grammatical and both make sense, although of course their meanings differ.

 

[Tarheel]

I agree with "somewhere " there. Why? They don't want to go anywhere. They want to narrow things down more than that.

 

[emsr2d2]

The both work because both are then qualified (narrowed down) with "with a beautiful view".

Helen: Where do you want to go for our weekend away?
John: Somewhere with a spa.

Helen: Where do you want to go for our weekend away?
John: Anywhere with a spa.

In the second, he's effectively saying "I'll go anywhere - as long as it has a spa".

 

[bruxinha]

Thanky you all for your valuable information! That was all I wanted to know.
I understand that "somewhere" is kind of "more correct", more usual - that is also the reason why it is given in the answer key as the correct answer. On the other hand, answer keys are only sample solutions, and we as teachers are allowed to give points to different answers, as long as they are gramatically or idiomatically acceptable (as long as it works, that is as long as a native speaker understands it without finding it too awkward or artificial).
In this case, I had the feeling that "anywhere" also fitted in the sentence, just like emsr2d2 mentioned: they will go anywhere, as long as it has a beautiful view and they can have a picnic there. I wouldn't want to give the student a point if it weren't acceptable; neither did I want to leave the point out if it can be considered grammatically correct. Some of the other teachers disagreed by saying that "anywhere" is used for negative sentences and questions, so it would be the wrong answer there, since it is an affirmative sentence.

 

[tedmc]

I think 'somewhere" is a better answer. "Anywhere" does have negative connotations or carries a "can't-be-bothered" tone. In an exam. questions can sometimes ask for the best answer, not just any correct answer.

 

[emsr2d2]

No one has said that they're not both correct. In my opinion, if there are two grammatically correct answers and the question doesn't make it clear that they're looking for the better of the two possibilities, it's a poor question.

 

[probus]

It is poor question design because both somewhere and anywhere are grammatical and both make sense although the meanings differ of course.