# EN: any + singular / plural



## tenderfoot360

Why is it that any takes a plural noun?  For example, She doesn't have any friends.

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads merged to create this one.


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## Eddie

Hi, Tenderfoot!

While that's generally true, there is an exception when you're dealing noncount nouns:

I don't have any money.
Do you have any butter?

As to why this partitive is used with count nouns which are plural, the only answer is that it's use as such is rooted in history. At some point in the past, people started using it that way.

Ed


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## theRam

If you're looking for a construction that would use a singular noun, it would be:
"She doesn't have a single friend." or
"She has not one friend."


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## ParisLondon

Hello! I'd like to know if we use a plural or a singular form after "Any" in English. For instance would you say "I didn't get any details" or "I didn't get any detail"? Thanks in advance!


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## veronicamars

I would say, "I didn't get any details."


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## moustic

You can use "any" with a singular (uncoutable) or a plural (countable) noun.
I haven't got any milk. 
I haven't got any apples.


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## AudSyd

Hello,

I have trouble with the following sentence:

_Any of these assumptions *is *correct_

or

_Any of these assumptions *are *correct_

What's the rule (if any!)?

Thanks a lot for your help!


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## fei100

je ne suis pas sûre, mais je dirais "is" (car on pourrait aussi dire ds le même sens: "_any_ _one_ of these assumptions is correct".
D'ailleurs, même si cela ne semble pas être une tournure très élégante, mais on dirait: "n'importe laquelle de ces hypothèses + sing.".
(n'importe laquelle de ces hypothèses peut être envisagée)


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## SBcavalière

Any of these assumptions IS correct, is correct. However, in spoken English you often hear "are," and not "is."


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## pmin

Est ce que ces deux phrases sont possibles. Il me semble que any est suivi d'un singulier si le nom qui suit est invariable et d'un pluriel dans les autres cas. 
Serait-il possible de dire :
-he doesn't have any sister
Thanks


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## Enquiring Mind

All three are possible.
"He doesn't have any sisters".  Il n'a pas de soeurs.

a - "His sister was talking to him on the phone.
b - But he doesn't have a sister."     "Il n'a pas de soeur" (The existence of a sister has been mentioned or implied, you simply deny that any sister exists)

a - "But he told me it was his sister!
b - He doesn't have any sister!" (The existence of a sister has been mentioned or implied, you emphasise or insist that there is no sister.)


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## timboleicester

Enquiring Mind said:


> b - He doesn't have any sister!"



I am sorry to put a spanner in the works but this is not possible in this example. *He doesn't have any sisters...*is the only possibilty here.

Maybe you could contrive a sentence and say "there wasn't any sister....but it would have to be very specific.


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## lucas-sp

Totally agree with Timbo; you can't say "he doesn't have any sister."

There are times when you can use any + singular noun (even when that noun is variable): "What do you mean, I ordered trout? I never eat any fish!" "Would you like any cake?" "It was hell - they didn't have any whiskey." etc.

Perhaps it's lunchtime for me?


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## Enquiring Mind

Not the standard or usual use of "not ... any" with countable nouns Timbo, but it's certainly *possible* according to this from which I quote (verbatim):

Q: "Could you please tell me when to use the plural form of a noun after words like *any* and* no*? For example, it seems that people tend to say:

*I don't have any trees in my yard* rather than
*I don't have any tree in my yard.*

A: Although your paired example sentences are both possible, we don't usually use *any *with *singular countable nouns* in English. For the singular, we would probably use a different formulation. Compare:

There aren't* any* trees along this road.
There isn't a single tree along this road.

There is a slight difference of emphasis here, which is also implicit in your own paired example. In the first sentence, we are thinking of more than one tree and in the second just one."

And what about: the instruction book told me to press the red button, but there wasn't any red button.
Or you could try reading the gobbledygook forum. But there isn't any gobbledygook forum.


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## lucas-sp

Yeah, but that forum doesn't recommend that we use "I don't have any tree in my yard." 

It does say that a sentence like "Won't you have any lamb?" is acceptable.

There's also the case where you could say "It's not any mountain climber who can make it to the top of Everest" but in that example I feel like a different use or meaning of "any" (i.e. "any which," "it doesn't matter which one") is in question. Similarly, if you told me to look for a tall birch tree, I could say "There isn't any such tree here," or if you wanted a blonde I could say "There isn't any girl matching that description here." I suppose if the context makes it entirely clear that one and only one thing is in question, then you can get away with "There isn't any [singular countable noun]," but that seems like a rather exceptional case.


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## timboleicester

I think we are agreed that it is possible but it is not correct in the example cited above to say "he doesn't have any sister" this will just lead to confusion and fear. The use of Any + a countable noun in tbhe singular  should be reserved for very specific occasions....

The original poster will therefore be pleased to learn that both the items posted are acceptable.


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## drassum

Bonjour, 

J'ai lu beaucoup de choses, parfois contradictoire sur le sujet. Aussi, j'aimerais avoir un nouveau point de vue.

1 "I don't have any favourite film."

2 "I don't have any favourite films."

Bien que le pluriel accompagne, le plus souvent, "any". La phrase 1 reste-elle correcte? 

D'avance merci pour vos réponse.


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## moustic

J'aurais dit "I don't have *a* favourite film" au singulier.


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## CapnPrep

drassum said:


> Bien que le pluriel accompagne, le plus souvent, "any". La phrase 1 reste-elle correcte?


Oui, elle reste correcte. _Any_ peut déterminer un nom au singulier, même si, comme tu le dis, il se construit plus souvent avec un pluriel (ou avec un singulier indénombrable).

Voir aussi les fils suivants sur le forum English Only :
Any+singular/plural: If you have any <problem/problems>
"Any" and the "plural" of "countable" nouns


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## Kekepop

Quoique, à mes oreilles, la phrase 1 est très mal faite.. peut-être est-ce dû à une certaine façon de parler ? De ma région, peut-être ? Pour moi je dirais assez simplement : I don't have any favorite movies. (movies à la place de films puisque je suis américain.)


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## Louidji

Hello, I wonder if we can say: "Do you have *a* kettle" or "Do you have *any *kettle?" or are both correct?
Thank you.


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## SuperPatchy!

You'd have to say the first one if it were something like talking to a friend and asking "Do you have a kettle?". The second is incorrect, but you could say, for example, in a shop that sells appliances "Do you have any kettles?"
I guess it's because you only really need one kettle, and most people only have one.


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## Louidji

Thank you very much.
Now, can I say "I haven't any kettle" in the singular?


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## AnnieF

If you were answering the question "Do you have a kettle?", as suggested by SuperPatchy then you would say "I don't have a kettle".  If you were a sales person in the shop, you might say "We don't have any kettles".


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## Maître Capello

The singular would, however, be used for non-count nouns, e.g.:

_I don't have any coffee._

The singular would be also possible in particular contexts where "any" means _n'importe quel(le)_, e.g.:

_This is not any kettle; it was my great grandmother's._


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## drassum

Bonjour,

Je suis tombé sur la phrase suivante et me demande si "any" est préférable à "a", ou si les deux sont interchangeables:

"*There isn't any chair in his house*."

"Any" n'est-il pas, en principe, suivi d'un nom pluriel à la forme négative (dans ce cas avec plutôt "aren't") ? "There   *aren*'*t* *any *chair*s* in his house."

Merci pour votre aide.


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## newg

Personnellement, vu qu'on veut mettre l'accent sur le fait qu'il n'y a pas de chaises dans sa maison, j'aurais sûrement dit: 

There isn't *a* single chair in his house. 

Par contre, avec le pluriel, je mets volontiers _any_: 

There aren't *any* chairs in his house.


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## Kelly B

You're right - the original doesn't sound to me like a native English speaker wrote it, and I'd usually write_ there aren't any chairs in his house._ With the singular I might write _there isn't *one *chair in his house_, or _there isn't a *single *chair in his house_; those both suggest greater emphasis than the usual expression.

Edit: whoops, cross-posted.


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## AKA44

Hi Everyone
*1) I haven't got ANY sister.
2) I haven't got A sister.*
I am getting confused about the use of ANY or A in sentences like the pair I have written out above. 
Nbr.1 seems more correct than Nbr.2 However, as  I am not a native speaker I do not know if this "feeling" is right nor can I really explain it. Years ago I learnt that ANY can have a qualitative undertone...Like for example in the sentence : _He doesn't drink any wine_ which could mean he only drinks the best wines. Is that right ?     
Thank you all in advance for helping, advising, explaining ....


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## Lacuzon

Bonjour,

je ne suis pas anglophone mais pour moi la première signifie que je n'ai aucune sœur alors que la seconde signifie que je n'ai pas une (seule) sœur mais peut-être zéro deux ou trois).


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## safiadjili

Hi, 

The correct way to say it is "I haven't got any sister*s". *Don't forget the plural with ANY 

You can also say "I don't have a sister".

Hope it helps you


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## Omelette

Yes, 'any' is followed either by a plural (as in that case  'sister/sisters')   or by an uncountable noun.
So, you could say 'I haven't any wine/food/money/bread' etc.


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## Itisi

'He doesn't drink any wine' can only mean he doesn't drink wine at all.
He only drinks the best wines: he doesn't drink just any wine/any old wine


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## jann

AKA44 said:


> *1) I haven't got ANY sister. ** --> I haven't got any sisterS. **
> 2) I haven't got A sister.*


negative + any + plural count noun (sisters) or non-count noun (wine).
negative + a + singular count noun (sister)

_
Je n'ai pas de sœur_ = I haven't got a sister (UK) / I don't have a sister (US).
_Je n'ai pas de sœur*s*_ = I haven't got *any* sister*s* (UK) / I don't have *any* sister*s* (US).


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## PaulQ

A: Those are nice apples.
B: Take one
A: Which one?
B: Take any apple.

"There are strategies that any company can use to improve its profits."

However, in its other sense, *any* means (approximately) *some*, and is a determiner and any, like some, takes a plural.
I asked them if they had any books./I asked them if they had some books.


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## MysterPedanticke

theRam said:


> If you're looking for a construction that would use a singular noun, it would be:
> "She doesn't have a single friend." or
> "She has not one friend."



There is some potential for ambiguity here. We might want to indicate:
1. "She doesn't have a single friend" (or "She doesn't have one friend") --- "she has many [friends (implied)]". 
2. "She doesn't have a single friend" --- "they are all married". 
3. "She has not one friend" (or "She hasn't one friend") --- "she has several/many". 
And, of course, in speech we can change the emphasis by tone of voice.  Difficult to do in print, but we might for example say "She doesn't have a ***single*** friend!" 

So, in order to indicate a total absence of friends, we might say: 
"She doesn't even have one friend", or "She has no friends at all", although we probably wouldn't usually want to make such global statements, so we might say: 
"She only arrived yesterday, so she doesn't have a friend in the city yet, but she has lots of friends on the WordReference Forums".  ] 

As others have said, there are some "rules" like the use with count or uncount nouns, but generally it is largely a matter of custom and "does it sound right?".


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## okgoogle

Bonjour,

"I don't know wether any of us here understand what really happened here."

Ce passage est tiré du film Oh God book 2.

Le professeur n'aurait-il pas dû dire understands ici ?

Merci.


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## Maître Capello

Les deux nombres sont possibles selon que le locuteur attend normalement un singulier ou un pluriel. Le singulier est toutefois l'accord habituel en style soutenu.

_I don't know whether any of us understand*(s)* what really happened here._


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## matt1997

Hello, I struggle to use any because I never know if I should use it in singular or plural. I know that the singular form is used for uncountable nouns (example:Is there any information). But what about countable nouns, is it possible to use both? If yes, does it have a different meaning.

is there any book on the shelf?/ are there any books on the shelf?

there isn’t any passport left/ there aren’t any passports left.

Are the both options possible?

furthermore, I do struggle to use it with ‘do/does’
which one is correct and why

does any of you have a key?
do any of you have a key?

does any of them take the test after 1:00 pm?
do any of them take the test after 1:00 pm ?

if any of them take(s) the test… then….
you can see that I put the ’S’ between () because I don’t know if it is the 3rd singular voice that is used (he/she/it)

couls you help me?
thanks,


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## Juan Moretime

matt1997 said:


> Is there any book on the shelf?
> Are there any books on the shelf?





matt1997 said:


> There isn’t any passport left.
> There aren’t any passports left.





matt1997 said:


> Does any*one* (of you) have a key?


Quelqu'un a-t-il une clé?
L'un d'entre vous a-t-il une clé?


matt1997 said:


> Do any of you have a key?





matt1997 said:


> does any of them take the test after 1:00 pm?
> do any of them take the test after 1:00 pm?
> 
> if any of them take*s* the test… then….


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## matt1997

Hello Juan thanks for your response, I have a question , did you validate both options for each sentence every time or the second one?

plus , are you saying that anyone should be used instead of any with does? So ’does’ +’any’ doesn’t make sense, when used with the second person in ‘of you’ ?
and does /do can both be used with ‘of them’?


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## Juan Moretime

matt1997 said:


> Hello Juan thanks for your response, I have a question , did you validate both options for each sentence every time or the second one?


I checked the second option. It seems that _*any*_ works best in the plural case. In the singular case, I feel the need for a different construction.

Is there *a* book on the shelf? (for example, I may be trying to find a book that I lost)




matt1997 said:


> are you saying that anyone should be used instead of any with does?



Well, it could just be a case of personal preference. I prefer 

Does anyone?
Do any of you?

_*Does any of you?*_ sounds wrong to my hears. But, I wouldn't be surprised if I heard someone say it. 



matt1997 said:


> does /do can both be used with ‘of them’?


I prefer_* do*_ any of them?

You may hear an American ask *does *any of them.


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## Gemsh

matt1997 said:


> is there any book on the shelf?/ are there any books on the shelf?
> 
> there isn’t any passport left/ there aren’t any passports left.


Are there any books is correct. Is there any book is incorrect. We can only use any for plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
For example: Is there any rice? Is there any coffee? Rice and coffee are uncountable.


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## matt1997

Hello, juan  and gemsh, thanks for your responses they’re really helpful🙏 .

However I do have another example, this time it is a negative statement:

I didn’t understand any word you just said/ I didn’t understand any word*s* you just said.

we agree that ‘word’ is countable, right?
However, this time the singular sentence (1st option) seems to be the right one to me. Am I right? Is it because it is a negative statement?


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## Gemsh

No, it’s because it’s: I didn’t understand any (of the words) you just said. In natural speech, we often avoid saying unnecessary words, because the listener understands those words are part of the sentence, even if we don’t say them. Another way would be, “I didn’t understand a single word you just said.”


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## matt1997

I think my probem stems from this website : Any Is or Are: Is Any Singular or Plural?


> _Any_ may be used as a singular or a plural pronoun, depending on whether it refers to “at least one” or “one or more.” You may use either a singular verb like _is_ or a plural verb like _are_ with _any_ (although use of the plural is more common).



  It is basically saying that both the options are possible for countable nouns.
do you think this is wrong?
Or would you only advise to use any with plural countable nouns in positive statements as it sounds more natural (but it would mean that the singular statement is not necessarily wrong?)



Gemsh said:


> No, it’s because it’s: I didn’t understand any (of the words) you just said. In natural speech, we often avoid saying unnecessary words, because the listener understands those words are part of the sentence, even if we don’t say them. Another way would be, “I didn’t understand a single word you just said.”


Sorry I’m lost , so which one is correct ? the plural form again?
thanks for your answer


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## Gemsh

We use any in negative statements and questions for singular uncountable nouns and plural nouns. In positive statements, we use a + a singular countable noun or some for singular uncountable nouns or plural countable nouns.
Ex. There is a book.
There is some rice.
There are some books.
Is there a book? There isn’t a book.
Is there any rice? There isn’t any rice.
Are there any books? There aren’t any books.

I would say , “I didn’t understand anything you just said,” or, “ I didn’t understand a single word”.


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## Juan Moretime

matt1997 said:


> I didn’t understand any word you just said/ I didn’t understand any word*s* you just said.


Ok, so the debate among English speakers comes down to when _any_ refers to countable nouns. Some of us (myself and Gemsh) imagine that _any_ is plural. If we are talking about only one item, we'll say it differently. 

In the example you give, I would say

I didn't understand (*a*/*ONE*) word you said.


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## Gemsh

But we also use any for uncountable nouns in negatives and questions.


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## Juan Moretime

matt1997 said:


> I think my probem stems from this website : Any Is or Are: Is Any Singular or Plural?


He does say that _*any*_ can be either singular or plural, when we are dealing with countable nouns. But, whenever he uses a sentence with the word _there_, he invariably takes _any_ as plural. Besides two negative constructions, one of his examples is a question.

“Can I have the oranges?” “Sorry, there _*aren’t*_ any.”
“Check if there are any strawberries left.” “No, there _*aren’t*_ any.”
"_*Are*_ there any books  in the bag?"

He does say that _*anyone*_, _*anything*_, and _*anybody*_ are singular, but I gave you that example already.

So, I spent a good hour looking at the web page you showed me. Apparently, they are not equivalent. Although the verb can be either singular or plural, in the examples he gives, countable nouns (or their pronouns) are invariably plural.

Is/are any of the _books_ on sale?
Does/do any of _you_ know the answer?
Has/have any of _them_ called yet?
This is why you invariably say _*there are*_, or ask _*are there?*_

Are there any _books_ in the bag?

In negative constructions, you can also use *no *and *none*.

There are *no* apples left.
There aren’t *any* students left.
There aren't *any* left.
There are *none* left.


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## matt1997

Thanks and sorry for the time you’ve been putting in this.

I do have a last question : what about an order, does it follow the same rule?

For example: ‘give me any reason not to call it off’. It is a line from a tv show. Is it like informal?
Would you say 
‘just give me a reason not to call it off’ 
‘Just give me any reasons not to call it off’

Reason is here a countable singular noun


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## Gemsh

Any
Here’s a link. It explains we can use any in a strong form as emphasis, meaning, it does not matter which.



> *Strong form any meaning ‘it does not matter which’*
> We use _any_ to mean ‘it does not matter which or what’, to describe something which is not limited. We use this meaning of _any_ with all types of nouns and usually in affirmative sentences.
> 
> In speaking we often stress _any_:
> 
> _Call 0800675-437 for *any* information about the courses._ (+ uncountable noun)
> _When you make a late booking, you don’t know where you’re going to go, do you? It could be *any* destination._ (+ singular countable noun)
> [talking about a contract for new employees]
> 
> _Do we have *any* form of agreement with new staff when they start?_ (+ singular countable noun)
> [a parent talking to a child about a picture he has painted]
> 
> *A:* _I don’t think I’ve ever seen you paint such a beautiful picture before. Gosh! Did you choose the colours?_
> *B:* _We could choose_ *any* _colours we wanted_. (+ plural countable noun)


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