Review grammar question.
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- lbhatters
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Review grammar question.
"Any – means one of a group and it doesn’t matter which one you choose.
Every – means all of the group.
For example:
Every student wrote five essays. (Means all the students completed the task)
Did any student write five essays? (Means has at least one student written five essays, it doesn’t matter which specific student).
However, remember that both any and every refer to a single item of a list and hence are treated as singular.
HAS any student done the home work.
Every student HAS done the work.
Contrast it with: All students HAVE done the work. (All – makes it plural while both any and every are singular)."
http://www.bodhisutra.com/question/the- ... and-every/
Also,
"The American Heritage Dictionary says:
When used as a pronoun, any can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on how it is construed: Any of these books is suitable (that is, any one). But are any (that is, some) of them available?"
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.englis ... np/amp.htm
Based on this, the sentence, "Any changes (plural) he says begins with you and me, since statistically it's likely anyone at all reading his book is in this category of the politically uncommitted" would be correct in American English (not talking about British English), because "any changes" would be considered a group and therefore treated as singular. Any comments?
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- wilykit104
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I can't make head or tail of this sentence, I'm afraid. Does the original quote have any commas?
Having read it over a few times--it would make more sense if it read, "Any changes, he says, begin with you and me..."
Or, "Any change, he says, begins with you and me.
Disclaimer: I am British, and disagree that "any" must always be singular. "Every" is certainly always singular, but "any" can be either singular or plural depending on context and the way in which it is used. I don't see how it would be any different in America?
For example, "Please make any amendments to your essay before the deadline."
"Have you got any oranges?"
If you remove the "s", these sentences don't make sense.
I think the first definition you quoted must have been referring to a particular use of the word. The second definition does say "any" can also be plural.
Hope this helps!
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