No One vs. Anyone

any anyone indefinite pronouns negative pro-forms no no one non-assertive pro-forms

'No one' and 'anyone' are both indefinite pronouns that are used to refer to no person or thing in particular. Here, we will discuss these two pronouns.

Are They Opposites?

Anyone

'Anyone' refers to 'any person at all, no matter who' (we use it when it does not matter who the person is). Remember that In this case, the word 'anyone' is always written together as one word without any space between 'any' and 'one'.

Anyone can participate in this contest.

Did you see anyone?

Is 'Any One' Correct, Too?

The only way you might see the noun phrase 'any one' (with space between them) is when we want to refer to a member of a certain group.

Any one of these people can win the lottery.

'Who do you think did this?' 'It could be any one of those kids.'

'No One'

'No one' is another indefinite pronoun that refers to the absence of a person, i.e. it means 'not anyone; no person'. Sometimes, writers write 'no one' with a dash: 'no-one'.

No one was able to break Allison's record.

No one is at home. Let's go out to dinner.

Negative Makers

'Anyone' can be used in negative sentences and questions. But, 'no one' is a negative marker by itself and it can make a sentence negative.

No one was at home. (Not no one ~~wasn't~~ at home.)

The verb is positive, but the sentence is negative, because of 'no one' which is a negative marker.

Can't anyone help you out?

The sentence is negative, because the verb is negative, not because of 'anyone'.

Can We Use 'No One of'?

Do not use 'of' after 'no one'.

No ~~one~~ of us can speak Russian fluently.

Instead, you should use 'none of of'.

None of us can speak Russian fluently.

Comments

Everybody vs. Everyone

What is the difference between 'everyone' and 'everybody'? 'Everyone' and 'everybody' have the same meaning in dictionaries. But are they really the same?

Everybody vs. Every Body

Are 'Everybody' and 'Every Body' both correct words in English? Do they have the same meaning? Can we use them interchangeably? Let's find out.

Everybody vs. Everybodies

Can 'Everybody' be used as a plural pronoun? Or it should always be used as a singular noun? Here, we will see if 'Everybody' can be pluralized or not.

Everyone vs. Every One

Are 'Everyone' and 'Every One' both correct words in English? Do they have the same meaning? Can we use them interchangeably? Let's find out.

Everyone vs. All

'Everyone' and 'all' have a similar meaning when talking about people. They both mean all the people in a group'. But are they 100% the same?

Everyone vs. Every One of Us

'Everyone' and 'every one of us' both refer to 'every individual member of a complete group'. But are they interchangeable? Let's see.

download langeek app for free

Langeek