# Any und every



## Henryk

I believe anything.
I give everything.
Anything goes.
Everything for you.
Anything within reason.

Ich bin vollkommen durcheinander, wann ich in positiven Sätzen "anything" und wann "everything" nutzen muss. Gibt's da eine Regel oder muss man alles lernen?

Ich stelle die Frage bewusst hier, da ihr das ja auch irgendwie gelernt habt und die Unterschiede zwischen der Handhabung im Englischen und im Deutschen entdeckt habt und es meine Probleme somit wohl besser nachvollziehen könnt.

Vielen Dank im Voraus.


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## wickerman

Hey Henryk, vielleicht würde dies helfen:



Any = irengendeiner/irgendwas; x-Beliebiger, x-Beliebiges; (manchmal) sogar der/das Extremste, den/das man sich vorstellen könnte

Every = alle/alles zusammen; alle/alles, wer/was es jetzt gibt





I believe everything = Ich glaube alles vollkommen, was er mir sagt, oder was die mir predigen.

I believe anything = Ich würde alles glauben (im zynischen Sinne, oder im leichtgläubigen Sinne), halte alles für möglich.

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I'd give everything = Ich würde alles ausgeben, was ich habe, mein gesamtes Eigentum.

I'd give anything = Ich würde alles ausgeben, was ich jetzt habe, und alles, was man sich vorstellen könnte, das ich eventuell später haben könnnte.

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Everything goes  = (kaum unterschieden vom nächsten) Alles wird jetzt erlaubt, akzeptiert

Anything goes =  Alles mögliche wird jetzt erlaubt, akzeptiert, (sogar "XYZ"!)

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I'll do everything for you  = Ich werde alles für dich tun, was es für dich zu tun gibt

I'll do anything for you  =  Ich werde alles, was man sich vorstellen könnte, für dich tun

---

To do everything within reason = Alles Vernünftiges tun, und eben alles aufbrauchen, was zur Verfügung steht

To do anything within reason = Alles Vernüftiges tun, und wenn etwas bestimmtes vorkommt, das an der Grenze der Vernünft liegt, würde ich das auch machen






Mit "any" ist immer die Betonung auf einen einzelnen (machmal einen extremen) Fall, wogegen mit "every" ist immer "alles insgesamt, zusammen" gemeint.






LG
wickerman


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## gaer

wickerman said:


> To do everything within reason = Alles Vernünftiges tun, und eben alles aufbrauchen, was zur Verfügung steht
> 
> To do anything within reason = Alles Vernüftiges tun, und wenn etwas bestimmtes vorkommt, das an der Grenze der Vernünft liegt, würde ich das auch machen
> 
> Mit "any" ist immer die Betonung auf einen einzelnen (machmal einen extremen) Fall, wogegen mit "every" ist immer "alles insgesamt, zusammen" gemeint.


I think you are being too literal sometimes. This is extremely complicated.

I think that at times "everything" and "anything" are used interchangeably.

Anything I did made things worse.
Everything I did made things worse.

Logically those two sentences should mean something different, but in informal communication I think both mean:

No matter what I tried to do, it only made things worse.

In other sentences, however, only one is right.

If there are strict rules that apply "across the board", I don't know what they are.


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## wickerman

Ja, natürlich in vielen Fällen, zumal in der Umgagnssprache, hätten "any" und "every" die gleiche Bedeutung.  Aber wenn es einen Unterschied gibt, da ist er.

Ich glaube, unter Muttersprachlern, es ist eine Frage vom Gefühl, und an die besonderen Nuancen denken sie ja selten, obwohl die schon da sind.  Da dieses Gefühl nicht vermittelt werden kann, ist eine kompliziertere Erklärung manchmal notwendig.  Man braucht Faustregeln!    


LG
wickerman


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## gaer

wickerman said:


> Ja, natürlich in vielen Fällen, zumal in der Umgagnssprache, hätte "any" oder "every" die gleiche Bedeutung. Aber wenn es einen Unterschied gibt, da ist er.


Correct. 


> Ich glaube, unter Muttersprachlern, es ist eine Frage vom Gefühl, und an die besonderen Nuancen denken sie ja selten, obwohl die schon da sind. Da dieses Gefühl nicht vermittelt werden kann, ist eine kompliziertere Erklärung manchmal notwendig. Man braucht Faustregeln!


It also helps to know some fixed phrases. Every will not work in these:

"Any port in a storm" 
"Any place I hang my hat is home"
"Any old excuse will do"

There are probably many such constructions in which only "every" will work. So it is very much a matter of feel.

Gaer


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## Voxy

Question to both of you: 
What's the difference of the two sentences below?

*It's amazing how they do everything to help us non-natives.
It's amazing how they do anything to help us non-natives.*

Voxy


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## gaer

Voxy said:


> Question to both of you:
> What's the difference of the two sentences below?
> 
> *It's amazing how they do everything to help us non-natives.*
> *It's amazing how they do anything to help us non-natives.*
> 
> Voxy


That's an example of two sentences that say the same thing to me. Logically they shouldn't, I suppose. 

If you do "anything within reason" to help someone or "everything within reason" to help someone, I would interpret both according to context. Without context I would assume the same thing.

Gaer


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## Voxy

gaer said:


> That's an example of two sentences that say the same thing to me. Logically they shouldn't, I suppose.
> 
> If you do "anything within reason" to help someone or "everything within reason" to help someone, I would interpret both according to context. Without context I would assume the same thing.
> 
> Gaer


That's amazing. From a non-native point of view; I'd sworn that there
is a slight but quite noticeable difference in both sentences.
The former actually covers a positive tone. The guy who 
helps just does everything possible in his range, in order to do good.

The latter suggests a slight tone of frustration. The guy who helps
just knows that the other guy just doesn't understand, what ever he tries.
He does anything but to no avail.

This is just a gut-feeling, strictly from a non-native slant.

Voxy


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## gaer

Voxy said:


> That's amazing. From a non-native point of view; I'd sworn that there
> is a slight but quite noticeable difference in both sentences.
> The former actually covers a positive tone. The guy who
> helps just does everything possible in his range, in order to do good.
> 
> The latter suggests a slight tone of frustration. The guy who helps
> just knows that the other guy just doesn't understand, what ever he tries.
> He does anything but to no avail.
> 
> This is just a gut-feeling, strictly from a non-native slant.
> 
> Voxy


I can only speak for myself. We have too few "natives in English" in this forum giving opinions, and other English speakers may agree with you. I really don't know!

Gaer


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## dec-sev

Voxy said:


> The latter suggests a slight tone of frustration. The guy who helps
> just knows that the other guy just doesn't understand, what ever he tries.
> He does anything but to no avail.
> 
> This is just a gut-feeling, strictly from a non-native slant.
> 
> Voxy


I feel that something is amiss here, but can't get what. May be _anything_.

He does (tries) everything but to no avail.
Anything he tries is to no avail.
Everything I do, I do it for you.

One variant is correct as it belongs to a English-native singer with a husky voice. I can't remember his name. May be Charles Bronson,I can't think of anything right this minute.
Waiting for Erloy.


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## wickerman

I agree with Voxy that there is a hint of difference in meaning between the two: "any" implies they take extreme measures (quality), while "every" implies they do all that can be done (quantity).  Good feel for the language, Voxy! But Gaer is right that although those nuances exist, we really are splitting hairs here.
Dec-sev, you're also right that "He does anything" can't stand alone grammatically.  It has to be something like "He'll do anything" or "He does anything you want."


LG
wickerman


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## gaer

dec-sev said:


> I feel that something is amiss here, but can't get what. May be _anything_.
> 
> He does (tries) everything but to no avail.
> Anything he tries is to no avail.
> Everything I do, I do it for you.
> 
> One variant is correct as it belongs to a English-native singer with a husky voice. I can't remember his name. May be Charles Bronson,I can't think of anything right this minute.
> Waiting for Erloy.


Don't forget that we are mixing "any/every" with compounds such as "anything/everything" and perhaps "anybody/everybody".


If I say, "I tried everything [in the world] but with zero success," that is a perfect example where "anything" would not work at all.

Also: "Does everyone agree? Does anyone have an objection?"

We may be lucky that this discussion is taking place here and not in the English forum, because there it might turn into a 20 page discussion resulting in no clear answers!

Gaer


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## gaer

wickerman said:


> I agree with Voxy that there is a hint of difference in meaning between the two: "any" implies they take extreme measures (quality), while "every" implies they do all that can be done (quantity). Good feel for the language, Voxy!


I agree with Voxy too. I would say that in many cases there is a potential difference, but it is not clear. Context, emphasis, many other things might really "muddy up the waters".

In other cases the difference is very different.


> But Gaer is right that although those nuances exist, we really are splitting hairs here.


Actually, I don't think it is so much about slitting hairs as it is attempting to analyse something that is incredibly "slippery", and perhaps people who teach English could describe it better.

I do think there are differences, and I do think you at least made a good start at suggesting what they are.

Has anyone mentioned the combining of the two, for emphasis?

"He did anything and everything he could for me."

This illustrates, I think, the blurring of the two words (in this particular sentence). If you consider this logically, it is redundant, but often such redundancy is effective in making an emotional statement, adding stresw to a thought. 

Gaer


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## samanthalee

gaer said:


> Anything I did made things worse.
> Everything I did made things worse.


 
I think there is a subtle difference here. The second sentence states a fact: the things I've done had adverse effects. The first sentence states a frustration: the things I've done had adverse effects and the things I didn't do will have adverse effects too if they were done by me.



gaer said:


> "He did anything and everything he could for me."
> 
> This illustrates, I think, the blurring of the two words (in this particular sentence). If you consider this logically, it is redundant, but often such redundancy is effective in making an emotional statement, adding stresw to a thought.


 
I don't actually consider the use of "anything and everything" a redundancy. "Everything" refers to "everything he can think of to do for me" and "anything" refers to "anything I ask him to do, no matter my requests are reasonable or not". It brings to mind a useful legal phrase "including but not limited to...".



dec-sev said:


> Everything I do, I do it for you.
> 
> One variant is correct as it belongs to a English-native singer with a husky voice. I can't remember his name. May be Charles Bronson,I can't think of anything right this minute.
> Waiting for Erloy.


 
I believe it's Bryan Adams.


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## Kajjo

Henryk said:


> I believe anything.
> I give everything.
> Anything goes.


Die Unterscheidung ist für Deutsche wirklich schwierig, da die Übersetzungen nicht immer eindeutig sind. Für mich hat sich aber folgende Regel bewährt:

_anything = eine beliebige Sache aus einer großen Menge von Möglichkeiten
everything = alle Sachen aus einer großen Menge von Möglichkeiten
_
Im Deutschen fallen die möglichen Übersetzungen leider oft zusammen

_I'd give everything... = Ich würde alles dafür geben, um... (gemeint: alles, was ich habe / was mir wertvoll ist)
I'd give anything... = Ich würde alles dafür geben, um... (gemeint: was immer Du willst; jede Sache, was auch immer Du Dir aussuchst)
_
_Anything goes = Alles ist möglich. (gemeint: Jede Sache ist möglich; aber nicht: alle Sachen sind gleichzeitig möglich, daher nicht _everythinggoes_)
_
Meines Erachtens tragen die Wörter im Englischen immer verschiedene Bedeutungen. Die vielen Beispiele, in denen beide Wörter möglich sind, beruhen darauf, daß in vielen Fällen beide Konzepte einen Sinn ergeben und dieser Sinn auch häufig sehr nahe beieinander liegt.

Kajjo


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## gaer

samanthalee said:


> I think there is a subtle difference here. The second sentence states a fact: the things I've done had adverse effects. The first sentence states a frustration: the things I've done had adverse effects and the things I didn't do will have adverse effects too if they were done by me.


I think you are defining a clear difference where there is not necessarily one that exists:

1) Anything I tried to explain seemed to make things worse, and I don't know why or what I was doing wrong.

2) Everything I tried to explain seemed to make things worse, and I don't know why or what I was doing wrong. 

Of the two sentences above, I think I would be more likely to say 2). But I'm not sure.

As I have said repeatedly, logically the meaning should be different. I do not believe this is always true in day to day usage. So we will have to agree to disagree. 

Gaer


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## wickerman

I think the difference is not in the meaning of the words, but in the feeling they get across.  Samantha is on to something in my opinion when she says "anything" expresses frustration, while "everything" is more neutral.

LG
wickerman


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## Yoni

Voxy said:


> Question to both of you:
> What's the difference of the two sentences below?
> 
> *It's amazing how they do everything to help us non-natives.*
> *It's amazing how they do anything to help us non-natives.*
> 
> Voxy


 
The second sentence doesn't feel right to me. It seems to need another word:

It's amazing how they would do anything to help us non-natives.

It means that there is nothing you could imagine that they would not do.

The first sentence means that they already do everything.


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## Acrolect

wickerman said:


> I think the difference is not in the meaning of the words, but in the feeling they get across. Samantha is on to something in my opinion when she says "anything" expresses frustration, while "everything" is more neutral.


 
But then there still should be a difference in the conceptual/logical meaning between the two, because the emotional side can only be secondary to this (I do not believe that _anything_ has any connotations). This becomes evident in the fact that if you turn _made things worse_ into _was_ _successful_, the frustration of _anything _is gone.


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## Yoni

Acrolect said:


> But then there still should be a difference in the conceptual/logical meaning between the two, because the emotional side can only be secondary to this (I do not believe that _anything_ has any connotations). This becomes evident in the fact that if you turn _made things worse_ into _was_ successful, the frustration of _anything _is gone.


 
I agree: 'anything' seems to me just as devoid of negative or positive connotations as everything'; only a particular context may confer such connotations.

For example, where is the frustration in:

You can say anything you like, I will still love you.


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## Marty10001

Here's my pennyworth:

Just take "any" and "every" on their own:

"Any/every person can sing" - there is a difference. 
"Any" looks at things one at a time; "every" looks at things as a group. 

"Which beer would you like", "I'll take any one."
This one OR another OR another. 
"In this pub we have beers of every kind".
This one AND another AND another. 

"I believe anything" I believe this or that or the other.
"I believe everything" I believe this and that and the other.


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## Acrolect

Marty10001 said:


> "Any/every person can sing" - there is a difference.
> "Any" looks at things one at a time; "every" looks at things as a group.
> 
> "Which beer would you like", "I'll take any one."
> This one OR another OR another.
> "In this pub we have beers of every kind".
> This one AND another AND another.
> 
> "I believe anything" I believe this or that or the other.
> "I believe everything" I believe this and that and the other.


 
I agree in principle, but I'd specify this: 
_any_ denotes a selection from a set
_every_ denotes the full set

So _every_ is a + b + c
_any_ is a OR b OR c, but - theoretically - also a + b but not c, a + c but not b, etc. and also a + b + c. 

_I believe anything_
_I'd do anything for you_

IMHO, these do not logically exclude the possibility that you believe more than one thing or that you do more than one thing.

This is probably the reason why in many context, the resulting semantic difference is not that large.

The main difference between _any_ and _every_ must be somewhere hidden in this opposition between full set and selection from the set, between definite and not definite, between fixed and possible.

*confusion*


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## samanthalee

Acrolect said:


> This becomes evident in the fact that if you turn _made things worse_ into _was_ _successful_, the frustration of _anything _is gone.


This is an interesting test. If we look at the 2 examples:
Anything I did was successful.
Everything I did was successful.

I'll say the second sentence is proud crowing. And the first sentence is uttered by an arrogant brat who doesn't believe he will ever fail. It's just my gut feelings though.


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