{"id":1010,"date":"2014-12-15T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1010"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:47","slug":"any-vs-some","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/any-vs-some\/","title":{"rendered":"Any vs. Some"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we\u2019ll look at the English adjectives \u201cany\u201d and \u201csome.\u201d These words basically have the same meaning, but are used in different kinds of sentences. \u201cAny\u201d is used in \u201cnegative\u201d statements, sentences that use the word \u201cnot.\u201d \u201cSome\u201d is used in \u201cpositive\u201d statements that don\u2019t contain the word \u201cnot.\u201d This can seem a little confusing at first. Below is a chart that shows the difference between using \u201cany\u201d and \u201csome,\u201d with example sentences. In the far right column, you can see some common mistakes.<\/p>\n

\"avs_img1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look a little more closely at the two incorrect sentences. Why are they wrong, and how can we fix them?<\/p>\n

1) That man has any<\/strong> money.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s wrong:<\/p>\n

<\/strong>This is a positive statement. The sentence states that the man does<\/em> have money. However, \u201cany<\/strong>\u201d is only supposed to be used in negative statements. When you use \u201cany<\/strong>\u201d in a positive statement, it will sound very strange.<\/p>\n

Some ways to correct it:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use \u201csome<\/strong>\u201d instead:<\/em> The man has some<\/strong> money.<\/p>\n

Use an adjective that works in both negative and positive statements instead: <\/em>The man has much<\/strong> money.<\/p>\n

Use no adjective at all:<\/em> The man has money.<\/p>\n

2) There are not<\/em> some<\/strong> trees in the desert.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s wrong:<\/p>\n

<\/strong>This statement is negative. It means that the desert has no trees. \u201cSome<\/strong>\u201d is supposed to only be used in positive statements. \u201cSome<\/strong>\u201d sounds confusing and out of place in this negative sentence.<\/p>\n

Some ways to correct it:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use \u201cany<\/strong>\u201d instead:<\/em> There are not <\/em>any<\/strong> trees in the desert.<\/p>\n

Use an adjective that words in positive or negative statements instead: <\/em>There are not<\/em> a lot<\/strong> of trees in the desert.<\/p>\n

Use no adjective at all:<\/em> There are not trees in the desert.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why this is important on the TOEFL:<\/h2>\n

\u201cAny\u201d and \u201csome\u201d are especially important in TOEFL Speaking<\/a> and Writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The official TOEFL Speaking rubric<\/a> takes away points if you don\u2019t demonstrate \u201cautomaticity\u201d and \u201cgood control of basic\u2026 structures.\u201d \u201cAny\u201d and \u201csome\u201d are very basic words that fluent English speakers should be able to use automatically.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the TOEFL Writing rubric<\/a> takes points away for \u201cfrequent or noticeable minor language errors,\u201d and unclear meaning. These problems can easily happen with misuse of \u201cany\u201d or \u201csome.\u201d Suppose a test-taker accidentally writes, \u201cThe professor has any opinions.\u201d It\u2019s obviously a mistake, but it\u2019s hard to tell if the incorrect sentence means that the professor has some<\/em> opinions, or means the professor doesn\u2019t have<\/em> any opinions. This error, while small, makes the meaning of the writing very unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny\u201d and \u201csome\u201d are adjectives, but they\u2019re also root words for certain adverbs and pronouns. As you might expect, adverbs and pronouns with the root word \u201cany\u201d also should only be used in negative statements. Similarly, adverbs and pronouns rooted in \u201csome\u201d should appear in positive statements. We\u2019ll take a look at these adverbs and pronouns in a later post.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we\u2019ll look at the English adjectives \u201cany\u201d and \u201csome.\u201d These words basically have the same meaning, but are used in different kinds of sentences. \u201cAny\u201d is used in \u201cnegative\u201d statements, sentences that use the word \u201cnot.\u201d \u201cSome\u201d is used in \u201cpositive\u201d statements that don\u2019t contain the word \u201cnot.\u201d This can seem a little confusing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAny vs. Some - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today, we\u2019ll look at the English adjectives \u201cany\u201d and \u201csome.\u201d These words basically have the same meaning, but are used in different kinds of sentences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/any-vs-some\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Any vs. Some\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, we\u2019ll look at the English adjectives \u201cany\u201d and \u201csome.\u201d These words basically have the same meaning, but are used in different kinds of sentences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/any-vs-some\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-15T17:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2014\/11\/avs_img1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/any-vs-some\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/any-vs-some\/\",\"name\":\"Any vs. Some - 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}