'any' and 'some'

Question

Could you tell me a difference between "Are there any good movies in town?" and "Are there some good movies in town?"I would like to know what differences between 'any' and 'some' are.Thanks.

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

lucas21c,

The forum is here to help learners and is very happy to answer any questions. But keep in mind, when the volunteers help you with the answers, they spent valuable time and certainly don't like to answer it twice. Why are you posting the same question again?

+#

1026677 Fri, 15 Jan 10 09:28 AM

Do you have any time to look at my questions?

Can you spend some time to look at this problem for me?

But any some are words that don't make a good combination.

I look at it like this:

If you assumed that something you want exists, you can say "some", Can I borrow some [~~any]~~ sugar ? (because I presumed you have some in your kitchen).

Or, I can rephrase the question with the assumption that you don't cook and therefore you may not have sugar in your cupboard. So I would ask: Do you have any sugar I could borrow?

CalifJim · Answer

any is usually used in a question. It is the most neutral way to ask the question. It is as if you are asking if there is at least one (of something).

Are there any good movies in town? (Is there at least one good movie in town?)

some is used in question when the speaker already has a positive answer in mind. It is almost as if you are asking if there is one or more (of something).

Are there some good movies in town? (Is there one or more than one good movie in town -- as I believe there are?) [To my ear, this version with some invites the listener to say which movies are good more than the version with any. Neither question, however, actually asks the listener to name the good movies.]

CJ

Lucas21c · Answer

Hi, disumexpress.

I am sorry that I made you misunderstand this.

Actually, I miswrote my sentences seriously when I opened my earlier question; "Are there some any good movies in town?" should have been "Are there some good movies in town?"

So, I couldnt' get any answer which I wanted because my question was basically wrong.

I hope you remove the misunderstanding.

Thanks for your answer.

'any' and 'some'

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