■ any

1) not... any 不常放在单数可数名词前，例如说“我没有什么问题了”，尽管心目中“问题”不是多个，但仍然不习惯说 *I don't have any question，而应该说 I don't have any questions。至于通常只有一件的事物，any 后不好用复数，就宁可不用 any，例如不说 *She hasn't got any job 而要说 She hasn't got a job. 关于 any 后面名词单复数的问题，请参看 no 条。

2) 放在不可数名词或复数可数名词之前，暗示说话者心目中考虑到该事物的量而不单单是该事物的质。

• Is there any water in the can?罐子里有水吗？（考虑到一定数量的水，可能有用，也可能占地方需要倒掉，主要不是考虑水不同于其他物质的性质。）
• Is there water (*any water) on the moon?月球上有水吗？（只考虑到水这种氢氧化合物的物质是否存在，不考虑数量多少。）
• Do you need any water?你需要水吗？（一定数量的水，不光是水的性质。）
• Do you need water?你需要水吗？（同果汁、牛奶等相对立。）

3) 一般语法书指出，some 用于肯定句，any 用于否定句、疑问句和条件从句。但是有些疑问句本身带有主观的肯定倾向性，仍然多用 some。例如提出邀请：

• Would you like some (*any) coffee?您来点咖啡好吗？

或是提出要求：

• Can I have some (*any) soup, please?能给我一点汤吗？
• Can you lend me some (*any) money?能借点钱给我吗？

另外，有时候表示“如果”并不一定要出现 if 才可以用 any，例如两个人在争论，第三个人劝双方暂停，下星期一再谈：Both of you save any more arguments until Monday. (= If you have any more arguments, save them until Monday.) 有什么争论理由，下星期一再谈吧。这里的 any 就带有“如果有的话”这个含义。

any 用于否定句，还有一点要注意的是：any 要出现在否定之后，不能出现在否定之前。

• He didn't tell anybody.他没有告诉任何人。

但不可以说：*Anybody didn't tell him. 要说：Nobody told him.

4) any 除了用于否定句、疑问句和条件状语从句，还可以用于肯定句，意思是“随便一个”、“任何一个”。也就是说，其实有两个不同的 any，一个是作为否定极性项 (negative polarity item, NPI) 的 any，一个是作为一般定语的 any。但是，有时候即使出现在否定句中，any 也可能不是个否定极性项。例如报上有一份推销床垫的广告：Free mattress plus $500 if we don't beat any price on a comparable mattress, no matter what brand. (The Sunday Gazette, Schenectady, New York, Dec. 9, 2007, A2) 原意第一步是：We'll beat any price on a comparable mattress, no matter what brand. 凡是相仿的床垫，无论什么品牌，我们的售价都会比它便宜（这里 any 不是 NPI）。第二步是：If we don't, (we'll give you a) free mattress plus $500. 如果我们不比它便宜，我们就会白送您一张床垫另加五百美元。这里不能理解为“假如我们连任何别人的价钱都比不过”（也就是“假如我们在价格竞争中处于最末位”），因为原意是“假如我们在价格竞争中不处于最首位（哪怕是第二位）”。

5) as any 或 as anything (anyone 等) 原始的意思是“同任何一个一样”，这里的“任何”，指的是“哪怕是最…的”，因而整个意思就是“哪怕同最…的相比也比得过”（不是同随便一个差劲的比），也就是“自己最…”了。

• With his stunning, historic victory yesterday, Barack Obama has risen as far, and fast, as any politician can. (The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York, Nov. 5, 2008, editorial)巴拉克·奥巴马昨天惊人的历史性胜利，使得他比任何一个政治家的崛起都显得更高更迅速。
• July 4 is as good as any day to mark independence (George Will, The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York, July 4, 2008, A9. headline)七月四日比任何一天都更加合适纪念独立。
• ... for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party. (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter One)…因为你跟女儿们比起来，她们哪一个都不能胜过你的美貌，你去了，彬格莱先生倒可能挑中你呢。
• If you assume that Tolstoy is not really a stylist and that his work can be paraphrased into smooth English, the task may become comparatively easy. But once you pay close attention to his words, they become as difficult to translate as any. (Richard Pevear, translator of Tolstoy's War and Peace, Newsweek, Oct. 15, 2007, p.82)如果你设想托尔斯泰并不见得是一个文体大师，设想他的作品可以对付对付译成通顺的英文，那么，任务也许变得比较容易一些。但是你一旦进一步注意他的遣词用句，这些词句就变得比什么都更难翻译了。
• She (= Cleopatra) exercised power as firmly as any man, but used her femininity to reinforce her popularity. (Newsweek, Oct. 15, 2007, p.47)她（埃及女王克娄巴特拉）比哪个男人都更加牢固地执掌政权，但又利用自己的女性身份来加强众望。
• You need to look at reliability and safety as much as anything when buying a car.你买车的时候，最需要注意的是可靠性和安全。
• It was war, as much as anything else, that made an artist out of Westermann.韦斯特曼之所以成为艺术家，最主要的原因是战争。
• Only seventy years ago, Great Britain ruled over more than one quarter of the land surface of the planet. It policed, as far as anyone did, the oceans and seas, and it was the most important force in world finance, trade, and economy. (The New York Review of Books, March 29, 2007)仅仅七十年前，英国统治着地球陆地表面的四分之一以上。它比谁都控制着更为辽阔的海洋（不是“同谁都一样控制着辽阔的海洋”），它又是世界金融、贸易和经济中最为重要的力量。
• But in 1275, when Marco Polo first approached the Dragon Throne at Xanadu, the wannabe author was only twenty-one years old. He had traveled as far as anybody traveled back then; from west to east, across most of the then known world.马可·波罗这位壮志凌云的作者，1275 年才二十一岁时就第一次在上都接近了龙椅宝座。他长途旅行所至之遥远，为当时任何人所不及（不是“同当时任何人的旅行一样远”），从西到东，穿越了当时人所不知的世界的大部分。
• He was reputed to be as close to the president as anyone in the cabinet.大家认为他比内阁中任何人都更为接近总统（不是“同内阁中随便哪一个人都一样接近总统”）。
• It was as easy as anything.那比什么都容易。
• ... running as fast as anything down the road …沿着路飞快地跑。

6) 与此相类似，like anything 也有“比什么都更加…”（而不是“如同随便任何…一样”）的意思。

• Tom only left last week and I already miss him like anything.汤姆上星期才走，但是我已经想念他想得不得了。