Any and some

Question

Sir, Could you help me with the following sentences:
1. There are books on the shelf.
2. There are some (many, a few, ...) books on the shelf.
Is sentence 1 correct? Can "books" go without any modifier?
3. Are there any books on the shelf?
4. Are there books on the shelf?
5. Are there many (some, a few...) books on the shelf?
Are no.3, no.4 and no.5 correct? Is "any" a must in the questions?
6. There aren't any books on the shelf.
Is "any" a must in the negative sentence?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

1. There are books on the shelf. OK
2. There are some (many, a few, ...) books on the shelf. OK
Is sentence 1 correct? Can "books" go without any modifier? yes
3. Are there any books on the shelf? OK
4. Are there books on the shelf? OK
5. Are there many (some, a few...) books on the shelf? OK
Are no.3, no.4 and no.5 correct? yes Is "any" a must in the questions? no
6. There aren't any books on the shelf. OK
Is "any" a must in the negative sentence? In 6. - yes

Guest · Answer

Thank you Califjim. I have one question about your answers:

What does "" mean? Thank you.

CalifJim · Answer

The ? is a misprint for >. I will edit the post and change ? to > and you will then see the word "no" in bold.

Now you can use boldface type, too!

(Thanks for catching that one!)

Any and some

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