Fondamenti della lingua inglese Laura Cignoni - Paleopatologia

I composti di some (somebody - qualcuno; someone - qualcuno; something - qualcosa; somewhere -
da qualche parte) e any (anybody; anyone; anything; anywhere) si usano allo stesso modo di some e
any:
Someone is coming, but I don’t know who.
We could see something, but we couldn’t make out what it was.
They want to go somewhere in the mountains for their summer holidays.
The respectful handling of remains recognised as human is not part of the typology of burials, but
reveals something of the attitudes of past populations. (The Archaeology of the Dead, 93).
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Is there anything to drink?
Did you go anywhere last Saturday?
We’re not going anywhere tomorrow.
She doesn’t know anybody in Spain.
La costruzione verbo al negativo + any (e i suoi composti) può essere sostituita dal verbo nella
forma affermativa + NO (aggettivo) o NONE (pronome)
I didn’t buy anything = I bought nothing
We didn’t see anybody/anyone = We saw nobody /no-one
He can’t find it anywhere = He can find it nowhere
At present, the United States has no national system of medical examiners and has no federal law
requiring the coroners be licensed physicians.
Nobody, nothing, etc. sono più enfatici di not ... anybody, not ... anything, etc.:
I don't want to know anything about it. (nessuna enfasi)
I want to know nothing about it. (più enfatico)
In the end nothing remains except some disconnected bones. (The Archaeology of the Dead,
11).
Any usato nelle frasi affermative significa ‘qualunque’, ‘chiunque’, ‘qualsiasi’:
You can take any of my clothes.
They could choose anything from the menu.
You can ask anybody to accompany you, they are all very willing to help.
How much? (quanto?) si usa con i nomi non-contabili:
How much time do they have for lunch?
Quanto tempo hanno per il pranzo?
How many? (quanti?) si usa per chiedere la quantità di oggetti contabili.
How any students were there at the language centre?