Some and Any - 3 rules you need to know

27,283 views ・ 2018-06-22

Simple English Videos


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
In this lesson we’re looking at how we use some and any in English.
0
299
4731
00:05
And you’re also going to see how we make lentil soup.
1
5030
4430
00:09
We’ve had a lot of requests for this one.
2
9460
3650
00:13
What?
3
13110
1000
00:14
Lentil soup?
4
14110
1000
00:15
No!
5
15110
1000
00:16
Some and any.
6
16110
2330
00:22
Before we start, here’s a quick reminder about countable and uncountable nouns.
7
22840
7080
00:29
In English some nouns are countable.
8
29929
3321
00:33
One, two.
9
33250
1739
00:34
Two onions Three carrots.
10
34989
3191
00:38
And some English nouns are uncountable.
11
38360
3080
00:41
We can’t count them.
12
41440
3009
00:44
Salt.
13
44449
2051
00:46
Soup.
14
46500
1780
00:48
Countable nouns can be singular or plural.
15
48280
3560
00:51
We use a singular verb form with singular nouns and a plural verb form with plural nouns.
16
51840
7620
00:59
Uncountable nouns always take a singular verb form.
17
59460
4880
01:04
Great!
18
64340
1280
01:05
So now we’re ready for some work with some and any.
19
65620
4640
01:10
We use both these words with countable AND uncountable nouns.
20
70270
5420
01:15
So let’s get cooking and see them in action.
21
75690
3530
01:19
We’re making lentil soup today.
22
79220
2220
01:21
It’s great for vegetarians and vegans.
23
81440
3690
01:25
Jay went vegan about six months ago.
24
85130
3130
01:28
So he doesn’t eat any meat or any fish.
25
88260
4550
01:32
And no dairy products.
26
92810
1580
01:34
So no cow’s milk or cheese.
27
94390
2480
01:36
Or eggs.
28
96870
1150
01:38
That’s right.
29
98020
1140
01:39
I don’t eat any food that had a face or a mother.
30
99160
5560
01:44
OK.
31
104720
660
01:45
Here are some of our ingredients.
32
105460
2860
01:48
We have some lentils, some celery and an onion.
33
108320
6170
01:54
An old onion.
34
114490
2980
01:57
And a hot pepper.
35
117470
1910
01:59
Can you get some carrots out of the fridge?
36
119380
2570
02:01
How many?
37
121950
1230
02:03
About three or four.
38
123180
2170
02:05
OK.
39
125350
1280
02:06
And do we have any tomatoes?
40
126630
4310
02:10
No.
41
130940
1000
02:11
It doesn’t matter.
42
131940
1340
02:13
And is there any stock?
43
133280
2080
02:15
Erm.
44
135400
1000
02:17
There’s some.
45
137200
1000
02:18
Oh good.
46
138200
1000
02:19
I’ve got some here.
47
139200
3370
02:22
How old is it?
48
142570
1080
02:23
It smells OK.
49
143650
1950
02:25
Stock is a liquid we use in soup.
50
145600
3300
02:28
It’s made by cooking meat or bones in water.
51
148900
4130
02:33
But this wasn’t made with meat?
52
153030
2060
02:35
No, this was made with vegetables.
53
155090
2050
02:37
Great.
54
157140
1000
02:38
I’ll cut up the onion and you can cut up the celery. OK.
55
158140
3740
02:56
So I was surprised when Jay went vegan because you used to love meat and fish.
56
176040
6150
03:02
Why did you go vegan?
57
182190
3030
03:05
It was for health reasons.
58
185220
1540
03:06
It’s good for my heart and I’ve lost weight.
59
186760
3600
03:10
About seventeen pounds so far.
60
190360
2680
03:13
Excellent.
61
193040
1190
03:14
So if you want to lose some weight, go vegan.
62
194230
3490
03:17
It’s good for the environment and for animals, of course.
63
197720
4560
03:22
Finished?
64
202280
1000
03:23
Yes.
65
203280
1000
03:24
OK.
66
204280
1000
03:25
This soup is very simple.
67
205280
3260
03:28
We just put the vegetables in the pot.
68
208540
3440
03:31
Add some stock and cook it.
69
211980
2520
03:39
Shall I add all the lentils?
70
219160
2010
03:41
Um, just some.
71
221170
1510
03:42
OK.
72
222700
1180
03:47
Let’s try it.
73
227520
2040
03:49
OK.
74
229560
1000
03:50
We need a spoon.
75
230560
1920
03:52
Oh, there aren’t any in the drawer.
76
232480
2970
03:55
Look in the dishwasher.
77
235450
1990
03:57
Sure.
78
237440
1740
03:59
This one?
79
239180
1220
04:00
Yes.
80
240400
1000
04:01
Any spoon will do.
81
241400
1400
04:08
You try it.
82
248040
1600
04:09
Sure.
83
249660
800
04:14
Hmm.
84
254740
1980
04:16
It’s a bit tasteless.
85
256760
1980
04:18
Mmm.
86
258750
1000
04:19
Can you get me some salt?
87
259750
2610
04:22
Sure.
88
262360
1000
04:23
Do you want some pepper too?
89
263360
1739
04:25
Yes.
90
265099
1000
04:26
Oh.
91
266099
1000
04:27
And we forgot the hot pepper.
92
267099
1540
04:28
Oh.
93
268639
1000
04:29
Let’s put some in.
94
269639
1451
04:31
Vicki said ‘some’.
95
271090
1919
04:33
But I think I’ll put it all in.
96
273009
2870
04:35
We’re going to try it again.
97
275880
6230
04:44
[Panting noises.]
98
284240
4720
04:48
So what do these words mean and when do we use them?
99
288960
4239
04:53
We’ll start with 'some'.
100
293199
2580
04:55
We use some to talk about a limited number or quantity.
101
295779
4730
05:00
Shall I add all the lentils?
102
300509
2071
05:02
Um, just some.
103
302580
2869
05:05
OK.
104
305449
1731
05:07
Vicki said ‘some’.
105
307180
1900
05:09
But I think I’ll put it all in.
106
309080
3179
05:12
So some means a limited amount.
107
312260
3880
05:16
Not all.
108
316140
1220
05:17
And we use it with PLURAL countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
109
317400
5560
05:22
But not singular countable nouns.
110
322960
2799
05:25
With singular countables, we say ‘a’ or ‘one’.
111
325759
5590
05:31
How can everyone tell if a noun is countable or uncountable?
112
331349
4461
05:35
Good question.
113
335810
2259
05:38
You just have to learn them one by one, but we’ll make another video about that later.
114
338069
5561
05:43
It’s interesting because salt and rice are uncountable, but lentils are countable.
115
343630
8620
05:52
Yes.
116
352250
1000
05:53
Lentils are countable.
117
353250
2380
05:55
One lentil, two lentils, three lentils, four lentils, five lentils, six lentils, seven
118
355630
5730
06:01
lentils.…
119
361360
1140
06:02
Pwww!
120
362700
1140
06:05
We use some when we don't know or we don't want to say an exact number or quantity.
121
365680
6739
06:12
906, 907, 908, 909…
122
372420
7220
06:19
Jay, let’s just say there are some lentils.
123
379740
4720
06:24
There are some lentils.
124
384469
2510
06:26
So 'some' is vague.
125
386979
3951
06:30
It means a number bigger than one, but it’s indefinite.
126
390930
4660
06:35
Can you get some carrots out of the fridge?
127
395590
2689
06:38
How many?
128
398279
1121
06:39
About three or four.
129
399400
2000
06:41
OK.
130
401400
1090
06:42
And is there any stock?
131
402490
1590
06:44
Erm.
132
404080
1000
06:45
There’s some.
133
405080
1639
06:46
Oh good.
134
406719
1760
06:48
Now, what about 'any'?
135
408479
1660
06:50
Any is similar.
136
410140
2660
06:52
Again it’s an indefinite number or quantity and again, we use it with plural countable
137
412880
8480
07:01
and uncountable nouns.
138
421360
1760
07:03
But any also has a negative meaning.
139
423129
4271
07:07
Any can mean none.
140
427400
2660
07:10
Jay went vegan about six months ago.
141
430060
3609
07:13
So he doesn’t eat any meat or any fish.
142
433669
4080
07:17
And no dairy products.
143
437749
1581
07:19
So no cow's milk or cheese.
144
439330
2500
07:21
Or eggs.
145
441830
1220
07:23
That’s right.
146
443050
1459
07:24
I don’t eat any food that had a face or a mother.
147
444509
5370
07:29
So Jay doesn’t eat any meat, any fish, any eggs.
148
449879
5120
07:34
It means he eats none of them.
149
454999
3150
07:38
So now you know the meanings of some and any and it’s time to learn some grammar rules.
150
458149
8171
07:48
Here’s a useful basic rule.
151
468840
2960
07:51
Use some in positive sentences.
152
471800
2919
07:54
Use any in negative sentences and questions.
153
474719
3420
07:58
This rule doesn’t work all the time but it’s a great starting point.
154
478139
6540
08:04
If I have elementary students, I teach them this rule.
155
484679
4520
08:09
We have some lentils, some celery and an onion.
156
489199
4720
08:13
We need a spoon.
157
493919
1980
08:15
Oh, there aren’t any in the drawer.
158
495899
2330
08:18
Do we have any tomatoes?
159
498229
2430
08:20
Ermm, no.
160
500659
1781
08:22
This is the basic rule you want to follow in positive sentences, negatives and questions.
161
502440
8940
08:31
Are there exceptions to this rule?
162
511380
3060
08:34
Of course!
163
514440
1920
08:36
An important one is requests and offers.
164
516360
3690
08:40
They’re special.
165
520050
2330
08:42
Can you get me some salt?
166
522380
1230
08:43
Sure.
167
523610
1000
08:44
Do you want some pepper too?
168
524610
2550
08:47
So here’s rule two.
169
527160
2260
08:49
In questions where we’re asking for things, or offering things, we say some.
170
529420
6520
08:55
So in normal questions you’d say any, but if the questions are requests or offers, say
171
535940
7680
09:03
some.
172
543620
1000
09:04
Got it?
173
544620
1700
09:06
Good, because now we’re going to shift up a level for rule three.
174
546320
4810
09:11
Are you ready?
175
551130
2130
09:13
We use ‘any’ in positive sentences when we mean 'it doesn’t matter which one'.
176
553260
5760
09:19
Look in the dishwasher.
177
559020
3080
09:22
Sure.
178
562100
2190
09:24
This one?
179
564290
1000
09:25
Yes.
180
565290
1000
09:26
Any spoon will do.
181
566290
1450
09:27
There are lots of spoons in the dishwasher.
182
567740
3269
09:31
It doesn’t matter which one you choose because they’re all OK.
183
571009
5511
09:36
Another example.
184
576520
1000
09:37
I’m hungry.
185
577520
1059
09:38
Well there’s soup in the fridge.
186
578579
3060
09:41
Oh really?
187
581639
2130
09:43
What’s this?
188
583769
2130
09:45
Tomato soup.
189
585899
2130
09:48
And there’s pea soup and also lentil soup.
190
588029
3800
09:51
Which one can I have?
191
591829
1700
09:53
Any one you like.
192
593529
1421
09:54
They’re all vegan.
193
594950
2530
09:57
So any can mean it’s all the same.
194
597480
2390
09:59
It doesn’t matter which one.
195
599870
2600
10:02
As your English goes up in level, you’re going to find this useful.
196
602470
5210
10:07
So make sure you’ve subscribed to our channel, so we can tell you more about it.
197
607680
6469
10:14
And in the meantime these are the key rules you need to know about some and any.
198
614149
7821
10:21
If you’ve enjoyed this video, please share it with a friend.
199
621970
3730
10:25
Yes.
200
625700
1000
10:26
See you all next week, everyone.
201
626700
1850
10:28
Bye.
202
628550
1000
10:29
Bye-bye.
203
629550
500
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7