Some vs Any - English Grammar - Teaching Tips
Some and Any are two words that often cause confusion, which is why we have decided to take a closer look at the difference of the two words in this video. Firsly, some is a determiner used for positive statements while any is a determiner used in questions and negative statements. Consider the following situation: I asked the teacher if he could give me some paper. I said ‘Excuse me, have you got any paper?’ Unfortunately, he didn’t have any. The first statement is positive and therefore requires us to use some. The second sentence is a question and therefore, we need to use any. The third and final sentence is a negative statement which also requries us to use any. It's worth noting that we do sometimes use some in questions and we also use any in positive statements. For example, we use some in questions when making an offer or request Would you like some tea?. Alternatively, we use any in positive statements when it follows a word with a negative or limiting meaning We rarely have any problems with it. The best way to get comfortable with the usage is to listen to native speakers or read a lot of English text.
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