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Navitasan Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Anyone/someone

Are these both correct and do they mean the same:

1-There isn't one of us who would harm someone who was rude to us.
2-There isn't one of use who would harm anyone who was rude to us.

I am not sure that "2" is not ambiguous.

a. We would only harm some of the people who were rude to us, but not all of them. We wouldn't harm just anyone who was rude to us.
b. We would not harm anyone who was rude to us.

Gratefully,
Navi.
  

Top answer

navitasan 1-There isn't one of us who would harm someone who was rude to us. Ultimately no one gets harmed. navitasan 2-There isn't one of us e who would harm anyone who was rude to us.

— Surfer

  • navitasan 1-There isn't one of us who would harm someone who was rude to us.
  • Ultimately no one gets harmed.
  • navitasan 2-There isn't one of us e who would harm anyone who was rude to us.
  • It's possible that zero or more people would be harmed, it depends.
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4 Answers
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navitasan1-There isn't one of us who would harm someone who was rude to us.
Ultimately no one gets harmed.
navitasan2-There isn't one of use who would harm anyone who was rude to us.
It's possible that zero or more people would be harmed, it depends.
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Just a couple of notes that may help you down the line.
Whenever we have a negative context, use " any ", i.e. "I don't have any money", or "I don't have any spare time to help you". So in your sentences, between "someone" and "anyone", # 2 is the right choice. However, the pattern of the sentence is not what I would call natural. I would say " None of us would harm anyone who
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Thank you very much Surfer.

So, if I understand correctly,

2-There isn't one of use who would harm anyone who was rude to us.

means:

2a-There isn't one of use who would harm just anyone who was rude to us.
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navitasanThere isn't one of use who would harm just anyone who was rude to us.
This one is clearer to me.
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