0
Hans51 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Any / some provocations
"In response to that, South Korea's defense ministry reiterated that Seoul will strongly respond to any provocations."
I have learned that when sentences are negative in forms and meanings, any is usually used but I was wondering why any is used here in the sentence because does provocation imply a negative meaning or is it okay to use some like some provocations? And then is there a meaning difference between them?
Thank you so much as usual in advance!
I have learned that when sentences are negative in forms and meanings, any is usually used but I was wondering why any is used here in the sentence because does provocation imply a negative meaning or is it okay to use some like some provocations? And then is there a meaning difference between them?
Thank you so much as usual in advance!
Top answer
, and this sentence has nothing like that. Hans51 I was wondering why any is used here Here any means all or every , with the implication "It doesn't matter which (provocation)". Hans51 does provocation imply a negative meaning No, but even if it did, it wouldn't control the use of "any".
- , and this sentence has nothing like that.
- Hans51 I was wondering why any is used here Here any means all or every , with the implication "It doesn't matter which (provocation)".
- Hans51 does provocation imply a negative meaning No, but even if it did, it wouldn't control the use of "any".
- Hans51 is it okay to use some like some provocations?
- No.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
5 Answers
0
Hans51when sentences are negative in forms and meanings, any is usually usedCorrect, but that means grammatically negative forms, i.e., patterns with "not", "no", "never", etc., and this sentence has nothing like that.
Hans51I was wondering why any is used hereHere any means all or every, with the impl
00
CalifJimHere any means all or every, with the implication "It doesn't matter which (provocation)".used with singular countable nouns to refer to one of a number of things or people, when it does not matter which one
Take any book you like.
Any colour will do.
Any teacher will tell you that students learn at different rates.
00
Hans51shouldn't this change to any provocation?No, that's not necessary. Apparently, they were expecting more than one provocation. The same meaning of "any" applies either way, so either the singular or plural of "provocation" is acceptable in this sentence.
CJ
00
Thank you so much and I have one more question about this.
Some book says negative meaning implying words like without, hardly, refuse, etc are used with 'any' like
She went out without any money.
She refused to say anything.
And then I was wondering if the word provocation affects the choice of the word any
Some book says negative meaning implying words like without, hardly, refuse, etc are used with 'any' like
She went out without any money.
She refused to say anything.
And then I was wondering if the word provocation affects the choice of the word any
00
Hans51And then I was wondering if the word provocation affects the choice of the word any because I feel like the word provocation has a negative meaning like without and refuseOthers may disagree, but I don't see the connection. For example, you would not say
*She provoked any reaction.
in the same way that you can say
S
0
Related Questions