If any

These two sound OK:

·There is little, if any, difference between the two.
·There is little difference between the two, if any.

This one sounds very odd. I would never use it.

·If any, there is little difference between the two.

Let me make a guess.

If you researched the frequency of these, you would find that the placement of if any at the beginning of a sentence like this is extremely rare. The frequency of the others would be found to be quite high. The reason is most likely that any refers "back" to the adjective, and at the beginning of the sentence, the adjective has not yet been mentioned,

Hi Taka

Beginning the sentence with "if any" would sound odd to me. Using "if any" at the end tends to make "if any" sound like an unplanned part of the sentence -- i.e. an afterthought.

That's my two cents.

Hmm. If "if any" isn't good at the beginning... would you say the same applies to all similar expressions? I just thought of this:

If anything, you could try to read some books on this topic, but I doubt that would help you solve this specific problem.

Is "if anything" ok at the beginning? I think that's actually the best position.

Hi Kooyeen,

I'd say "if anything" can work at the beginning because the word "anything" is likely to refer back to something in the previous sentence. Something like this, for example:

Q: What can I do to solve this problem?
A: If anything, you could try to read some books on this topic, but I doubt that would help you solve this specific problem.

Ah, that makes sense. [Y] Thanks.

OK. Thank you all!