Something, nothing, anything, everything ?

Today we are going to look at a grammar point which causes many problems for learners of English; the difference between the compounds formed from some, any, no and every.

someone / somebody, something, somewhere

We use the above primarily in affirmative sentences, although they can be used in questions of invitation when the speaker expects an affirmative answer.

I'd like to go somewhere quiet on holiday next year.

Someone called for you while you were in the shower.

Would you like something to eat?

anyone / anybody, anything, anywhere

We use the above in questions and negative sentences. They can also be used in affirmative sentences when we want to say whichever, wherever, when we don't mind.

Is anybody staying in your spare room at the moment?

Julie never wants to go anywhere, she is really boring.

-What do you want to eat tonight?
-Anything, I'm not bothered.

nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere

We use the above in questions and affirmative sentences to convey a negative meaning, They are usually used as subjects of a sentence or question. They cannot be used in conjunction with a verb that is already in the negative.

I fell in the street and nobody stopped to help me!

My landlord has thrown me out of the flat and I have nowhere to go!

Nothing to wear? Don't worry we can help you!

everyone / everybody, everything, everywhere

We use these compounds in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences when we want to be inclusive.

I left an egg boiling while I was on the phone and when I went back in the kitchen it had exploded and there was egg everywhere!

Does everybody have a holy communion in Spain?

I still don't have everything I need, I'll have to go back to the supermarket again.

Finally here is a little riddle to help you remember the difference.

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could ...

So If you think that you have understood all of that, you should try to do this quiz. Good luck!

Studying that's fun to do!

Students often ask their teachers for ways of improving their level of English outside of class time but can be less than enthusiastic when it comes to completing extra homework exercises or studying their list of irregular verbs. Englishfile, a series of coursebooks from Oxford University Press, has an excellent website where students can learn vocabulary, pronunciation, practical language and grammar in a fun and interactive way. I'm particularly addicted to the skating game / race against time. So if you are looking for a more fun way of brushing up on / practising your English at home you should check out the following address...

http://www.oup.com/elt/englishfile/

...then choose your level and away you go!

I couldn't disagree more! redux

"I can't live without my morning coffee!"

"I can. The only time I have coffee is after a meal."

We've now already looked at how to agree with a positive or negative statement someone has just made. And we've looked at disagreeing with positive statements. Now, last but not least, we're going to look at disagreeing with negative statements.

Like disagreeing with positive statements, the key here is the emphasis you place on the word "I". By stressing the different subject pronoun, you're highlighting the contrast with the other person's opinion. We also usually follow this up with a statement of our own opinion or likes.

Of course, like the other forms we've looked at, you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that you need to use the positive to establish the contrast with the original negative statement. You CANNOT use a contraction in the response.

Let's look at some examples:

"I'm not going anywhere on holiday [AmEng vacation] this year."

"I am. I'm going trekking in the Himalayas. I can't wait!"

"I haven't got any money."
"I have. Don't worry, I'll spot you some cash."

"I couldn't possibly go on a TV reality show."
"I could! I think it would be fun!"

"I've never run a marathon."

"I have. It's a lot of work and you have to train hard. But it's very satisfying to finish."

Notice that in the last example, although there is no "not/n't", the word "never" functions like a negative and so the response is in the positive.

I couldn't disagree more!

"I hate coffee!"

"I don't! I'd die without it!"

We've now already looked at how to agree with a positive or negative statement someone has just made. Today we're doing to look at disagreeing with positive statements.

The key here is the emphasis you place on the word "I". By stressing the different subject pronoun, you're highlighting the contrast with the other person's opinion. We also usually follow this up with a statement of our own opinion or likes.

Of course, like the other forms we've looked at, you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am not/isn't/aren't, can't/couldn't, don't/doesn't/didn't, haven't/hasn't/hadn't, shouldn't, won't, wouldn't, etc. Notice that you need to use the negative to establish the contrast with the original positive statement.

Let's look at some examples:

"I'm a Man U supporter."
"I'm not!. I support Man City."

"I'd really like to try bungee jumping."
"I wouldn't! Are you crazy? You could kill yourself!"

"I've always wanted to travel to China."
"I haven't. I prefer to stay in Spain."

I couldn't agree more! redux

"I really can't stand hot weather!"

"Me, neither!"
"Neither can I!"
"I can't, either!"

Last time we looked at agreeing with a positive statement someone has just made. Today we're doing to look at agreeing with negative statements.

All three of these forms can be used in informal English to agree with a negative statement another person has just made.

Of the three, "Me, neither." (often "Me, either." in more informal English, especially in North America) is the easiest to use, as you don't have to worry about the auxiliary verb.

For "Neither ___ I." and "I ___ not/n't, either." you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that with "neither" you don't need to add "not/n't" because neither already carries a negative meaning.

For example:

"I don't like U2."
"Neither do I." / "I don't, either."

"I haven't been working really hard lately."
"Neither have I." / "I haven't, either."

"I shouldn't really spend all my money on a Caribbean cruise."
"Neither should I." / "I shouldn't, either."

"I didn't do anything Saturday night."
"Neither did I." / "I didn't, either."


These forms can also be used for other people than yourself. Let's adapt the last example:

"We didn't do anything Saturday night."
"Neither did we." / "We didn't, either."

"I'm not doing anything on Saturday night."
"Neither is Mary." / "Mary isn't, either."

I couldn't agree more!

"I think pizza is the best food on earth!"

"Me, too!"
"So do I!"
"I do, too!"

All three of these forms can be used in informal English to agree with a positive statement another person has just made.

Of the three, "Me, too." is the easiest to use, as you don't have to worry about the auxiliary verb.

For "So ___ I." and "I ___, too." you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that we do NOT use a contract of the auxiliary in the answer.

For example:

"I'm a big U2 fan."
"So am I." / "I am, too."

"I've been working really hard lately."
"So have I." / "I have, too."

"I should really do an intensive English course."
"So should I." / "I should, too."

"I went to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So did I." / "I did, too."

You'll notice than in this last example, because there is no auxiliary verb in the original statement, you need to use "do" as your auxiliary, as in the pizza example above. Because the original statement was in the past, we use "did".

These forms can also be used for other people than yourself. Let's adapt the last example:

"We went to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So did we." / "We did, too."

"I want to go to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So does Mary." / "Mary does, too."

Money: . & ,

One of those odd little differences that aren't really linguistic is that when writing numbers in English we use a full stop (AmEng period) where Spanish uses a comma, and we use a comma where Spanish uses a full stop.

For example, let's look at a very big amount of money:

€23,256,945.46

In English this is said:
"23 million,
two hundred and fifty-six thousand,
nine hundred and forty-five euros
and forty-six cents".

Notice that essentially, saying large numbers in English is exactly the same in Spanish with one small exception: the "and" that we put betwen the hundreds and the tens. Most of the time you can hardly hear this "and", as it sounds more like 'n' when we speak normally.

Also note a few other things about writing numbers and amounts of money:
-- The euro/pound/dollar symbol goes BEFORE the number. $198, €53, £4,500.
-- When we write numbers from 21 to 99 (except for the tens, 30, 40, 50, etc.), they are hyphenated: twenty-one, thirty-five, seventy-six, ninety-nine.

I'd rather / I'd prefer

So it's the weekend, and you've planned an evening out with some mates (a commonly used word in BrEng for friends), and you're trying to decide what to do. It's quite common in this type of situation to state your preferences, rather than just saying "I want to do this." or "I'd like to do that.", especially when responding to others' suggestions.

So imagine somebody makes a suggestion: "Why don't we go to that Hawaiian bar in Plaza Santa Ana?" or "How about that Chinese restaurant in the car park (Am Eng: parking garage) in Plaza España?". Imagine that these don't really sound like something you feel like doing, how can you make a suggestion of your own? One good way is to talk about your preferences. To do that, you can use "I'd rather" or "I'd prefer".

Let's look at the grammar of I'd rather and I'd prefer:

I'd rather is followed by infinitive without 'to'.
For example: I'd rather go to a film.

I'd prefer is followed by infinitive with 'to'.
For example: I'd prefer to go to a film.

Usually it's not necessary to actually state the thing you don't want to do, because it's clear from the context (ie, your friend just suggested it), but for the sake of completeness, we'll give you all the grammar.

I'd rather + infinitive without 'to' + than + infinitive without 'to'.
For example: I'd rather go to a film, than go to some stupid Hawaiian bar.

I'd prefer + infinitive with 'to' + rather than + infinitive without 'to' or -ing.
For example: I'd prefer to go to a film rather than go/going to some stupid Hawaiian bar.

As you can see, the grammar with "I'd rather" is actually a little simpler, so even though it sounds less natural to a Spanish speaker, it's actually a much easier form to use.

I wish!

In Spanish you have a single lovely word that expresses so much: ¡Ojalá!. In English, to express the same one-word idea succinctly, you've got to say something like "I wish!" or "I hope so!".

There's a difference here, though. "I wish!" (sometimes "If only!" to express a stronger desire) refers to something that isn't really possible. For example, if someone asks you if you have tickets to see a World Cup match in Germany, and as it's very late you have no possibility of getting any, you might answer "I wish!" or "If only!".

However, if someone asks you if you think that Spain is going to win (talking about the future here) the World Cup, you would say "I hope so!". If you said "I wish!", you would be implying that they're going to lose. Now you don't want to do that, you'll jinx the team!

In a future post, we'll look at some more details and grammar of "wish".