On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:16:57 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"
<kenneth_m_lin@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>"Egbert White" <eggwhite@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>news:i6n4o498iaos7arah3vfjjime5kqjnj91u@4ax.com...
>> On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:28:25 -0800, "Kenneth M. Lin"
>> <kenneth_m_lin@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>>I was always taught that the word "any" should be followed by a singular
>>>noun unless you specify that it's plural, such as "any two persons can
>>>play." However, I have seen people saying "any questions" even though
>>>that
>>>any implies just one. Can someone enlighten me?
>>>
>> A dictionary can. For example, the on-line dictionary at m-w.com has,
>> among other definitions of the adjective 'any':
>>
>> one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity
>>
>> and for the pronoun 'any' it says in part:
>>
>> any thing or things
>>
>> | -- Saki's Mrs. Mebberley
>
>So how come people say "Anybody there?" instead of "Anybodies there?"
>
'Anybody' is a pronoun that can only refer to one person, according to
both an American unabridged Webster's and a British shorter Oxford
dictionary. For example, the British entry for 'anybody' is:
| A person, no matter who; whichever person.
If you want to ask if there are multiple bodies there, then you can
write 'Are there any bodies there?' but you mustn't write 'Are there
anybodies there?' just as you mustn't write 'How many hes were
present?' Pluralizing 'anybody' to get 'anybodies' is the same
mistake as pluralizing 'he' to get 'hes' or 'him' to get 'hims.' It
seems as if it could be permissible, but it just isn't.
Note that your original point was about 'Any questions,' which is okay
because, according to a shorter Oxford dictionary, 'any' means 'any
thing or things.' But, again, 'anybody' can only refer to one person,
while 'any body' refers to one body and 'any bodies' refers to more
than one.
There's a big difference between 'anybody' and 'any body,' and it's a
mistake to try to analyze them as if they are the same.
--
"How dreary, to be...Somebody! How public, like a frog, to
tell one's name, the live-long June, to an admiring bog!"
<Emily Dickinson>
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