§ 20. The pronoun any is also used as an adjective pronoun

and as a noun pronoun. In affirmative sentences any means 'it

does not matter who, what or which'.

e.g. Come any day you like.

I was interested in any new prospect of change. Any who

have questions to ask are requested to do so in writing.

"Which newspaper do you want me to buy?" "Any will do."

Her voice carried well in any hall.

Note. Any number of is a set phrase, meaning 'a great many',

e.g. I have any number of plants in my garden.

In interrogative and negative sentences any is used instead of some.

e.g. Is there any chance of seeing any of his pictures? I did not

see any change in his life. They asked him for some money.

He said he didn't have any.

It should be noted that a negative meaning may be conveyed

in the sentence not only by not, but also by never, without, seldom,

hardly, etc. It may also be expressed in another clause.

e.g. He never had any luck.

He went away without saying good-bye to any of us.

Now that he lived in the country he seldom had any visitors.

The Dutchman spoke French with hardly any accent.

No one is under any obligation to you.

I don't think any of us ought to wish the result to be different.

Any is used when some doubt or condition is implied. This often

occurs in object clauses introduced by if or whether or in conditional

clauses.

e.g. Let me know if you hear any news.

I wonder if you have met any of these people before.

If you have any news, call me up right away.

If you still have any of my father's letters, send them to me,

please.

Any may be used as an adverbial modifier of degree in the sentence.

e.g. He isn't any better.

In spite of your advice she isn't any the wiser.

§ 21. The pronoun no is negative in meaning and used only as

an adjective pronoun. It may mean 'not any' or 'not a'.

e.g. He had no tie on.

They have no friends in London. He had no

desire to take decisions. There are no letters

for you today. I have no money left. There

were no people in the hall. No boy at the

school had ever seen the sea. „ He is no hero.

The girl was no beauty. The

old man was no fool.

Note the set phrase to be no good. e.g. He is no

good as a pianist, ('никуда не годится')

§ 22. There are the following compound pronouns formed with

some-, any- and no-:

someone — anyone — no one

somebody — anybody — nobody

something — anything — nothing

They are all used as noun pronouns and the rules for the use

of some, any and no in different kinds of sentences hold good for

them (see §§ 19-21 above).

The compounds in -one and in -body are singular in meaning

and can be used only of persons.

e.g. There is someone in his office. Do you hear them talking?

He'd told my landlady he was looking out for someone to

paint him.

My mother wanted me to give more money to the fund than

anyone in the form.

Is there anyone at home?

No one was in a hurry. No one seemed to think that tomorrow

existed.

I found my mother in the kitchen. There was no one else at

home.

Somebody must have been using my books. They've got all

misplaced on the shelf.

Anybody can see that the whole thing has been a failure.

Did you meet anybody on your way home?

Nobody can help him under the circumstances.

The compounds in -one and in -body can have the form of the

genitive case.

e.g. He isn't going to be in anybody's way at this hour of the night.

Did you take anybody's photograph at the party?

Note. When the compounds in -one and in -body are followed by else, the genitive

case suffix -'s is added after else.

e.g. That's not my hat. It's somebody else's.

The difference between the compounds in -body and those in -

one is that the latter are, as a rule, more individualizing, i.e. the

compounds in -body refer to persons collectively, whereas those in -

one refer to individuals.

Cf. Somebody is sure to get interested in the job. (=some people,

one or more persons) This is a letter from someone

interested in the job. (=some

person, one person)

Nobody knew about her arrival. (= no people)

No one had come to meet her. (= not a person)

As a result, the compounds in -body are never followed by an o/-

phrase, while the compounds in -one sometimes are.

e.g. Does anyone of you correspond with her family?

The compounds in -thing can be used only of things. They are

also singular in meaning but they cannot have the form of the

genitive case.

e.g. There is something wrong with him.

We were almost outside our house before I took in that something

was not right.

"Why don't you say something?" he demanded.

I'll do anything for you.

"Is there anything in the paper?" he said, as we approached

the end of our silent meal.

Nothing could remove his disappointment.

The doctor could suggest nothing to me. (= The doctor could

* not suggest anything to me.)

He looked at me and didn't say anything.

Dirk never concealed anything.

Let me see your pictures. If there's anything I like, I'll buy it.

Note the idiomatic use of something in the following sentences:

e.g. He is something of a hermit. ('В нем есть что-то от отшель-

ника'.)

I hope to see something of you during the holidays. ('Я наде-

юсь видеть вас хоть иногда...')

Не is something in the Foreign Office. ('Он какое-то ответст-

венное лицо в Министерстве иностранных дел.')

Something or other prevented him from coming. ('По той

или иной причине он не смог прийти. Что-то помешало

ему прийти.')

It's something like two miles to the lake. (=approximately)

I'll whistle the tune for you. It goes something like this.

('приблизительно вот так')

All the compound indefinite pronouns may be modified by adjectives

which are generally placed in post-position to their headwords.

e.g. You should do something sensible about it at last.

Somebody important has arrived, I'm sure. I want

someone reliable to do this work. I thought he was

going to tell me something painful. I thought I'd

come and see if they had anything new.