Quantifiers / Determiners

SOME & ANY : “Some and any” are determiners and they express an indefinite quantity or number. “Some and Any” are used when it is not easy, necessary or important to say exactly how many / how much we want to mean. They are both used with countable and uncountable nouns.


“Some” is often used in affirmative statements.

1. SOME + COUNTABLE NOUNS : In this case, “some” means “ a few”.

There are some postcards in my bag.
There are some students in the class.
There are some cherries in the basket.
There are some mistakes in the list.

2. SOME + UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

There is some dust on the floor / There is some cheese in the fridge.

There is some fruit in the basket /There is some fish on the plate.


3. ANY + COUNTABLE NOUNS

“Any” is often used in negative sentences and questions.

There aren’t any people on the moon.
There aren’t any skyscrapers in our town.
There are not any empty chairs for the guests.


Are there any doctors in your family?
Yes, there are some doctors in my family.
No, there aren’t any doctors in my family.


4. ANY + UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

There isn’t any milk in the bottle / There isn’t any honey at home.

There isn’t any cold water here / Is there any bread on the table?

Yes, there is some bread on the table.
No, there isn’t any bread on the table.

NOTE:

In a negative sentence, we can use “no” in place of “not any”; However, “no” can also be used with countable singular nouns. When “no” is used, the verb is always positive.

There aren’t any wild animals in the forest.
There are no wild animals in the forest.

There isn’t any milk at home.
There is no milk at home.

Some is also used in offers and requests.

Would you like some cake?
Could you do some typing for me?