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For a collection of objects x and predicate y, you can say "all of x are y". For example, "It is probably summer if all of the Tree's leaves are green". But you can also say "x are all y", for example "It is probably summer if the tree's leaves are all green." The latter is what I mean by "infix".

Similarly, for a collection of objects x and predicate y, you can say "any of x are y". For example, you can say "It probably isn't winter if any of the tree's leaves are green".

However I can't think of a similar infix version of this second phrase. That is, I can't think of anything like "x are any y" that sounds right or makes sense, e.g. "It probably isn't winter if the tree's leaves are any green" sounds like nonsense.

Is there an infix version of this phrase in the english language?

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  • Why the downvote? Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 3:34
  • Welcome. Nice question but it needs to be re-worded. You have leaves being green in winter. Not likely. Please choose some other example, there must be many, to explore the idea. Then an answer will streak across the sky for us.
    – Elliot
    Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 4:03
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    Partly green perhaps. There is also the distinction between all the leaves have a green colour and every leaf is coloured all in green. BTW many Australian trees are green through winter and new growth in spring is reddish.
    – Peter
    Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 7:18
  • @Elliot I think there is a confusion somewhere. "I said it probably isn't winter if any of the tree's leaves are green". Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 10:01
  • In Texas many leaves remain green during the Winter. A clearer example should be easy to build.
    – Elliot
    Commented Nov 7, 2020 at 4:12

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I'd have commented, rather than answered, but I don't have that privilege. So, a suggestion:

If you accept "…if the tree's leaves are all green" for "x are all y", then you could say ‘...if the tree's leaves are at all green'.

Of course, this might pertain to how many of the leaves are green, but also to the extent to which the leaves are green (more or less), and 'at all' doesn't quite mean 'any'...

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    I understand the suggestion so I commend it. We might also go for the circumlocution “... are showing green”
    – Anton
    Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 8:19

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