Grammar. How to Use 'SOME' & 'ANY' in English

In this article, you’re going to learn how to avoid common mistakes when using "any" in English. You’ll also learn the difference between "some" and "any".

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “SOME” AND “ANY”

Common Mistakes with ANY in English

I often hear English students make this mistake:

“Do you have any pets?”

“No, any.”

Using ‘any’ here is incorrect because ‘any’ and words that begin with ‘any’ (anyone, anybody, anywhere, etc.) are not negative. 

So we say,

"No, I have no sisters."

"No, I have any sisters."

Here are some other examples,

"No one helped me."

"Anyone helped me."

“She has no patience.”

“Nobody likes it here.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“None of my friends are coming.”

Another common mistake in English is using ‘any’ instead of ‘a’ or ‘an’. 

So we say,

"Do you have a pen?"

"Do you have any pen?"

Using ‘any’ here is incorrect because we normally use a plural noun (or an uncountable noun) after ‘any’. 

For example, if I’m expecting an important letter, I can say:

“Are there any letters for me?”

Or, 

"Is there a letter for me?"

"Is there any letter for me?"

There are some exceptions to this rule, and we’ll discuss those below.

How to Use ANY in English

We use ‘any’ in negative sentences (with doesn’t, don’t, didn’t, etc.) and with words that have a negative meaning, such as ‘never’, ‘without’, ‘refuse’, etc. So we can say,

“He never says anything.”

“We didn’t stop anywhere.”

“They did it without any difficulty.”

“She refused to give him any attention.”

We also use ‘any’ in most questions, and often with ‘if’. For example,

“Did anyone understand this?”

“Do you know any good bars?”

“Have you seen any good movies lately?”

“If they need any help, tell them to call me.”

How to Use SOME in English

We generally use ‘some’ and words that start with ‘some’ (someone, somebody, etc.) in affirmative sentences. So we can say,

“There is someone at the door.”

“He has some interesting stories.”

We use ‘some’ when we don’t care about the quantity or the amount. For example,

“There’s some spaghetti sauce on your face.” 

We also use ‘some’ when something or someone is unknown or unfamiliar. So we can say,

“Some guy called for you while you were gone. Here’s his number.”

“Some lady was asking about you. I told her to come back in an hour.”

As I mentioned earlier, we use ‘any’ in most questions. But there are some exceptions. For instance, when we make offers or requests, we use ‘some’. So, if you’re with friends and you’d like to offer them drinks, you can say,

“Would you like some wine?”

“Would you like something to drink?”

Similarly, if you’re making a request, you can say,

“Can I have some water?”

“Could you lend me some money?”

The Main Difference Between SOME and ANY

As a general rule, we use ‘some’ for affirmative sentences, and ‘any’ for questions or negative sentences.

Usually, both ‘some’ and ‘any’ can only be used with countable plural nouns or uncountable nouns. For example,

“I have some questions.”

“I don’t have any questions.”

“Do you have any questions?”

Or,

“I have some water.“

“I don’t have any water.“

“Do you have any water?“

But there are some exceptions.

We can use ‘any’ in affirmative sentences when there’s a sense of no limitation. For example,

“Anyone who works here can help you.”

This means that it doesn’t matter who you ask, because everyone who works here can help you.

Here are other examples,

“He can eat anything and not gain weight.”

“These are great ideas for anyone who works from home.”