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PrinnySquad271 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

any + singular/plural noun

Hi Friends, I was hoping you can help discern the connotations within these two sentences. They are different slightly and I cannot, for the life of me, distinguish successfully the meanings: 1. Parents' spoiling their children too much makes them frail and unable to bear any sort of difficulty
2. Parents' spoiling their children too much makes them frail and unable to bear any sorts of difficulties

Both sound okay to me... but I suspect 1 indicates a more critical voice, it emphasizes the fact that the children won't be able to bear ANY sort of difficulty. I get confused by any + plural and any + singular after speaking English for 10 years now Emotion: sad it's a hard problem to wrap my head around b/c in my language there isn't plural morphology
  

Top answer

PrinnySquad271 I was hoping you can help discern the connotations within these two sentences. There is no difference in meaning. It is simply a matter of the author's choice of using a singular or plural.

— AlpheccaStars

  • PrinnySquad271 I was hoping you can help discern the connotations within these two sentences.
  • There is no difference in meaning.
  • It is simply a matter of the author's choice of using a singular or plural.
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3 Answers
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PrinnySquad271 I was hoping you can help discern the connotations within these two sentences.
There is no difference in meaning. It is simply a matter of the author's choice of using a singular or plural.
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First of all, thank you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

Secondly, which one would you prefer to say, and in which context might you say it?
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He is very smart and inventive, so he can overcome any sort(s) of difficulty.

The plural is more emphatic, perhaps somewhat exaggerating.
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