Can “someone” be used in negative sentence with the singular “they”?
I am reading a book called "Complete English Grammar Rules: Examples, Exceptions, Exercises, and Everything You Need to Master Proper Grammar" and I was on the text about the singular "they" when I saw the two sentences below.
As I know in negative sentences and questions "someone" should be replaced with "anyone". In this sentence, why is "someone" used? The book doesn't explain that.
You shouldn’t judge someone until you know what they are really like.**
However in this sentence "anyone" is used instead of "someone":
If anyone needs extra help with their studies, they should feel free to see me after class
Can anybody explain what's grammatically going on in these sentences?
Top answer
BoSsSy In this sentence, why is "someone" used? You shouldn’t judge someone/anyone until you know what they are really like. There is no grammatical rule that explains it, if that's what you're looking for.
- BoSsSy In this sentence, why is "someone" used?
- You shouldn’t judge someone/anyone until you know what they are really like.
- There is no grammatical rule that explains it, if that's what you're looking for.
- It's the writer's free choice to use 'anyone' or 'someone' in that sentence.
- When it comes to the strength of the negation, someone is weaker; anyone is stronger.
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BoSsSyIn this sentence, why is "someone" used?
You shouldn’t judge someone/anyone until you know what they are really like.
There is no grammatical rule that explains it, if that's what you're looking for. It's the writer's free choice to use 'anyone' or 'someone' in that sentence.
When it comes to the strength of the negation, someone
0BoSsSyHowever in this sentence "anyone" is used instead of "someone":If anyone needs extra help with their studies, they should feel free to see me after class Can anybody explain what's grammatically going on in these sentences?
'anyone' frequently occurs instead of 'someone' in if-clauses. This is because an if-clause is considered a non-ass
0Here are some websites that may help you to understand the usage of 'some' and 'any'. Much of what is there you already know, but they do have some information on those situations which may seem to you to contradict the basic rules.
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