any in plural or singular

Question

"How can you trust any politicians when we know they are speaking out of both sides of their mouths." Cambridge Idioms dictionary

IMO, it is politician, and not politicians.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=3350&dict=CALD

I am a bit confused sometimes because this usage of any is not consistent.

thanks

Logicman · Accepted Answer

"Ask a question of any politician and they will answer with another question."

'Any' means a free choice of one from many.
Since 'many' is already implied, it need not be specified;
the singular 'politician' is correct.

I would go further and say that 'any politicians' means a
free choice of a few from many, but that would be better put,
and more clear as 'any group of politicians'.

'They' simply avoids the use of 'he or she'.

This form of words is perfectly acceptable 'good' English,
both in the UK and in the USA.

Milky · Answer

The answer is at the link you gave:

<one of or each of a particular type of person or thing when it is not important which:>

Logicman · Answer

Any can also refer to 'some quantity of' a type of person, animal or thing:

Have you any sugar? - any amount.
Do you know any French people? - any number.
Did you see any horses? - any number.

Yoong Liat · Answer

I am a bit confused sometimes because this usage of any is not consistent.

Answer: You're confused because 'any' can refer to one or more than one person or thing.

BarbaraPA · Answer

I'm with Incho on this one - How can you trust any ONE. How can you trust anyone who is a politician. How can you trust any politician.

I would agree that if it were "Do you have any politicians in your family?" it would be plural, but not in this case.

Believer · Answer

Hi GG and others,

Here the sentence below, only the first seems to be the correct one because as Logicman said, if I got it correctly, any in any politician implies a free choice among many and any in any politicians means a few free choices among many.

How can you trust any musician. (Correct)

How can you trust any musicians. (possibly incorrect)

But, for the sentence below, which is GG's sentence, I think both of them will work because the context can acommodate both -- whether it be one or a few.

Do you have any politician in your family? (Correct)

Do you have any politicians in your family? (Correct)

BarbaraPA · Answer

Do you have any politician in your family? (Correct) - I'm not prepared to say that it is incorrect, but it is unnatural. You will hear the plural used in the "Do you have any..." construction almost every time.

If the conversation were about politicians in general, and I remarked about my great uncle, the senator, someone might say "Oh, do you have a politician in the family?"

Do you have {a + singular}?

Do you have {any + plural}?

any in plural or singular

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