Common English Errors: Someone, Anyone, No one?

Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson we're going to talk about three words that

are often confused by students, and these are some, any, and no, and also when these

are attached to other words, as you will see on the board.

This is something which is confused by a lot of students, and also specifically we had

a request on our InBid website from Ricardo, who asked if we could do a lesson on this,

so Ricardo, this is also for you, as well as all the other students out there.

So let's look at the board, okay?

So we use someone, somebody, something, or somewhere when we're talking in positive sentences,

right?

And we're using it in a positive sentence, in an affirmative sentence, alright?

We use anyone, anybody, anything, or anywhere when we're using a negative sentence or when

we're using a question, okay, when we're asking a question.

And we use no one, nobody, nothing, or nowhere also in positive sentences, but in positive

sentences when there isn't even one item of that kind that we are talking about, okay?

So let's look at some examples so you can understand more clearly.

I met someone at the party, right?

We're using someone because it's a positive sentence.

We could also say I met somebody at the party, but generally speaking, someone is used more

frequently.

They are exactly the same, it's just someone tends to be used more often.

Next example, I need to eat something, positive sentence, right?

Or I want to go somewhere, again, another positive sentence.

Now let's take these sentences and turn them into negative sentences and see how we replace

the "some" word with an "any" word.

I met someone at the party.

If we make it negative, we say I didn't meet anyone at the party, right?

I didn't meet anyone at the party.

So this will change.

I need to eat something.

If we make it negative, it's I don't need to eat anything.

Again, this word will change.

I want to go somewhere, positive sentence.

When we make it negative, it becomes I don't want to go anywhere.

So again, this word will change.

Let's see what happens when we turn them into questions, alright?

So if we have I met someone at the party, we could ask someone, did you meet anyone

at the party?

Right?

Because it's a question, so we're using anyone or anybody, same thing.

I need to eat something, question, do you need to eat anything, right?

I want to go somewhere.

Let's turn it into a question, do you want to go anywhere, right?

So you see how we're using the any words for negative sentences and for questions.

Now let's look at a few examples using no.

There's no one here, positive sentence.

There's no one here means there's not a single person here.

We could also say there's nobody here, means exactly the same thing.

There's nothing in the box, nothing literally means no thing, right, nothing in the box.

There's nowhere to go in this town, alright?

There's no place or nowhere to go.

So this also we use in a positive sentence, but in a positive sentence when there is not

a single item of that kind to talk about, alright?

So I hope that this lesson has helped you to understand some of the differences between

some, any and no, alright?

If you'd like to do a quiz on this, please visit our website, www.engvid.com.

You can do a quiz on this as well as watch videos on many other English subjects.

Thanks for now, good luck with your English.