Los compuestos de some y any actúan de la misma manera que estos, es decir, some-, para la afirmativa y, any-, para la interrogativa y la negativa, aunque empleamos some- en la interrogativa para peticiones, ofrecimientos o cuando esperamos una respuesta afirmativa, como ya dijimos en la unidad anterior. Ejemplos:
I saw somebody there. (Vi a alguien allí.)
I did not see anybody there. (No vi a nadie allí.)
Did you see anybody there? (¿Viste a alguien allí?)
Would you like something better? (¿Quiere algo mejor?)
En vez de I did not see anybody there, también se puede decir I saw nobody there. Lo que no se puede hacer es negar dos veces: *I did not see nobody there.
Da lo mismo decir somebody que someone, anybody que anyone, nobody que no-one. No-one se puede escribir también no one.
Any también puede significar "cualquier(a)":
You can take any pencil. (Puedes coger cualquier lápiz / Puedes coger el lapiz que quieras.)
Anybody can do it. It's very easy. (Cualquiera sabe hacerlo. Es muy fácil.)
Ya para terminar, véamos los siguientes ejemplos:
Somebody told me you were abroad. (Alguien me dijo que estabas en el extranjero.)
Nobody came to the meeting. (Nadie fue a la reunión.)
Was there anybody in the house? (¿Había alguien en la casa?)
I want something to eat. (Quiero algo de comer.)
I don't need anything. (No necesito nada.)
I need nothing. (No necesito nada.)
Would you like something to drink? (¿Quieres algo de beber?)
Is there anything in that drawer? (¿Hay algo en ese cajón?)
I want to go somewhere else. (Quiero ir a otro sitio.)
I didn't go anywhere. (No fui a ningún sitio.)
I went nowhere. (No fui a ningún sitio.)
Have you seen my car keys anywhere? (¿Has visto las llaves del coche en alguna parte?)
Ejercicio:
Rellene los espacios en blanco con somebody, anybody, nobody, something, anything, nothing, somewhere, anywhere o nowhere.
1. I know __________ about this issue that you may find interesting, but if I tell you, you must promise to keep it (a) secret.
2. __________ lives here. There is no water.
3. I spent the night __________ near the beach.
4. __________ could have jumped over this wall, and stole your rake. It's very low.
5. __________ scares him. He's very brave.
6. There is __________ to park here. Let's go __________ else to park.
7. Would you like __________ to wash your hands?.
8. May I have __________ for dessert, please?
9. They took him __________ in London, and he never returned.
10. Please don't leave __________ behind at home. We'll be away for a fortnight.
11. She needs __________ to love. She's very lonely.
12. They will not sing __________ in this city. They said that they would never come back.
13. There isn't __________ you can do to help them. __________ can help them.
14. We do not need __________ else to run this department. We can do it ourselves.
15. __________ is ringing the bell. Go and see who it is.
16. __________ phoned while we were out, but they did not leave a message.
17. __________ tells me that there is __________ fishy going on.
18. They are looking for __________ to settle down and have children. They want to find a quiet place to lead a quiet life.
19. "Where would you like to stay?"
"__________ will do provided it is a clean place."
20. "Is there __________ at home?"
"I don't think there is __________. Mum and dad must have gone out."
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