Many students ask us about the difference between these two common words. In today’s blog post, I am going to explain the difference between some and any, when and how to use these important words, as well as general rules for using indefinite pronouns that begin with ‘some’ and ‘any’.
Some and any as determiners
We use some and any as determiners when talking about the quantity of things. We can use them with both countable and uncountable nouns. (Intrepid English Learners can learn more about this topic right here.)
The difference between some and any is that we use any in questions and negative sentences to ask about an amount, or to refer to a negative amount, and we use some in positive sentences to indicate existence without specifying if it is a small or large amount.
For example: Do we have any apples?
No, we don’t have any apples. We do have some bananas, though.
Is there any orange juice in the fridge?
No, there isn’t any orange juice left. Please pick some up when you’re out.
Any in positive sentences
We can use any in positive sentences to describe something which is unlimited or it doesn’t matter what or how many.
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Some as a pronoun
We use ‘some’ as a pronoun (without a noun following it) when the noun is obvious or already known.
For example: If we don’t have enough plates for dinner, we should buy some. (Here, we don’t need to repeat the noun ‘plates’, because we know that we are talking about plates.)
There are many different types of dog at the shelter. Some are big, some are small. (Here, we don’t need to repeat the noun ‘dogs’, because we already know that we are talking about dogs.)
Any as a pronoun
Similarly, we can use ‘any’ as a pronoun without a noun, when the noun is obvious, implied or already known.
For example: Could I borrow some coins for the parking machine?
Sorry, I don’t have any on me at the moment.
There were so many beautiful dogs at the park this morning!
What? You’re kidding! I went this afternoon and didn’t see any.
Any as an adverb
Any as an adverb means ‘at all or in the least amount’.
For example: I couldn’t love my dog any more if I tried! (= It’s not possible for me to love my dog more.)
He wasn’t any taller than her. (= He wasn’t taller than her. He was the same height as her.)
I don’t want to stay here any longer. The music is too loud. (= I don’t want to stay here a moment longer.)
‘Some’ indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to places, people or things. We can use indefinite pronouns with ‘any’, ‘no’, ‘every’, and ‘some’.
For an indefinite place, use ‘-where’.
For an indefinite thing, use ‘-thing’.
For an indefinite person, use ‘-one’ or ‘-body’.
We use ‘some’ indefinite pronouns to refer to one person, place or thing without saying exactly who/where/what. We use ‘some’ indefinite pronouns in affirmative sentences.
I want to eat something spicy for dinner.
Somebody left the gate open.
For negative sentences and questions, we don’t normally use ‘some’ indefinite pronouns, instead we use ‘any’.
❌We couldn’t see something through the binoculars. ❌
We couldn’t see anything through the binoculars.
‘Any’ indefinite pronouns
We use ‘any’ indefinite pronouns to refer to a wide range of people, places or things.
We can use ‘any’ in questions and affirmative or negative sentences.
You can go anywhere in the city with this bus pass.
I didn’t buy anything at the event.
Do you need anything from the shop?
For negative sentences, we can use ‘any’ OR ‘no’ indefinite pronouns in the object position. In English, we can’t have a double negative, so the first part of the sentence should be affirmative if we are using a ‘no’ indefinite pronoun.
I ate nothing. (❌NOT: I didn’t eat nothing.❌) = I didn’t eat anything.
We saw no one. (❌NOT: We didn’t see no one.❌) = We didn’t see anyone.
We went nowhere last weekend. (❌NOT: We didn’t go nowhere last weekend.❌) = We didn’t go anywhere.
Intrepid English Members can learn more about indefinite pronouns, including indefinite pronouns with ‘no’ and ‘every’, complete practice activities and download a pdf cheat sheet in our Fast Grammar course in the Intrepid English Academy.