Some, any: further information

Any is used to talk about more than two people or things and either about two:

 

I have lots of colleagues in the US but I haven't met any of them.

I've started writing two reports but haven't finished either of them.

 

'Not any' isn't usually used at the beginning of a sentence or clause:

 

Not any of my friends work at weekends.

Not any food was provided.

 

Instead, we use no or none:

 

None of my friends work at weekends.

No food was provided.     

 

We can use 'any more' or 'any longer' at the ends of sentences to indicate a situation that has changed:

 

I used to smoke but I don't any more.

She doesn't work here any longer.

 

Note that 'any more' is sometimes written as 'anymore'. Whilst some authorities accept this as an alternative when it means 'any longer' or 'nowadays', it is considered less acceptable in the following sentence where 'any more problems' means 'any further/additional problems':

 

She doesn't smoke any more/anymore because she doesn't want any more problems.

           

 

We can use any + other comparatives to mean 'even a little':

 

I don't know why they bought that house - I thought they wanted more space for the children but it isn't any bigger than their last one. [not even a little]

 

Is this computer any faster than yours? [even a little faster?]

 

     If he works any more slowly than this, he'll never finish on time. [even if he works just a little more slowly]

 

 

Similarly, any can mean 'at all':         

 

They sent a replacement but it isn't any different from the first one. It won't be any use.

[no difference or use at all]

 

 

We can also use any after a comparative to emphasise the difference between one thing and all others:

 

It's better than any of his other films.

It's more expensive than any other similar car on the market. 

 

Any can be used in affirmative clauses beginning with 'before': 

 

Let's deal with it now before it causes any problems.

Before buying any new office furniture, we should decide exactly what we need.

 

And in affirmative sentences with 'hardly':

 

Hardly any of my colleagues work from home.

The temperature rose this week & there is hardly any snow left.

 
 

We can use intensifiers with any to give extra information. Here are some examples:

 

	Any
'Almost', 'virtually'   The meaning is 'it doesn't matter who/which'.	We can meet almost any day next month.   You can ask virtually any member of the team for advice - most of them are experts.
'Hardly'   To talk about very small quantities and amounts. The meaning is similar to 'almost no/none' or very few/little'.	Hardly any of my friends speak fluent French.   We won't be able to expand next year; there's hardly any money left.

 
 

Great - now I won't have to work any longer!

  There are hardly any problems that he can't fix although some of them take time.

    If I have to wait any longer, I'll miss my connection.

   The weather is bad but the airlines are working hard to prevent any delays. So there isn't any point complaining.