Timeline for Is there a subtle difference between "somebody" and "someone", "anybody" and "anyone"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
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| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Jul 21, 2016 at 9:06 | comment | added | Max Williams | I think that one way to look at it is that "anybody" is an abstract concept whereas "somebody" is more concrete - it refers to an actual person. So the reason that "I saw somebody in the hall" works is that you saw an actual real thing, and the reason that "I saw anybody in the hall." doesn't work is that you're claiming to have seen an absract concept. | |
| Nov 26, 2012 at 2:17 | comment | added | JSBձոգչ | @Sudhir, why don't you post that as a separate question? | |
| Nov 24, 2012 at 17:34 | comment | added | Sudhir | @JSBձոգչ "Can anybody/somebody explain the principles of democracy?" What about this sentence? | |
| Aug 23, 2010 at 18:20 | comment | added | nohat | I would note also that questions have negative polarity, so you use the any- variants in questions too: “Have you seen anybody?”; “Did you see anybody in the hall?”; “Did anybody call you on the phone?” | |
| Aug 23, 2010 at 17:50 | comment | added | RegDwigнt | Oh well, thanks for the effort, but that's a rather huge footnote following the first paragraph. I'd limit it to "However, there is a major difference between some- and any-." to keep the discussion on topic. | |
| Aug 23, 2010 at 17:34 | history | answered | JSBձոգչ | CC BY-SA 2.5 |