Anything vs. Any Thing

any anything indefinite pronouns non-assertive pro-forms

Are 'anything' and 'any thing' both acceptable words in standard English? If yes, are they interchangeable? If no, which one is correct?

"Anything" vs. "Any Thing" in English Grammar

Can They Be Used Interchangeably?

The short answer is no. 'Anything' is an indefinite pronoun that means a thing of any kind.

Note that 'anything' is used more commonly than 'any thing'.

Any thing

'Any thing' is NOT considered a pronoun. Rather, it is a noun phrase. We use it when we want to:

emphasize that we are referring to any object not a person or an animal or thoughts and ideas.

This object can fit into any thing.

place another adjective between 'any' and 'thing'.

Any small thing can change the course of actions.

If you want to put another adjective between 'any' and 'thing', you need 'any thing' as opposed to 'anything'.

refer to 'things', not 'a thing'.

Any things found on the crime scene will be confiscated.

What about 'Anythings'?

We don't have the word 'anythings', so, if you want to use the plural word 'things', you should say 'any things.'

Comments

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What is the difference in meaning when we add the adverb 'else' to the indefinite pronoun 'someone'? To find out the difference between the two, read this part!

Anything vs. Everything

'Anything' and 'everything' are both pronouns that are used to refer to something. They have fairly similar spelling and structure, but what's their difference?

Anything vs. Something

In this part, we are going to discuss the meanings and uses of 'something' and 'anything'. We will look at their similarities and differences.

Anything vs. Nothing

'Nothing' and 'anything' are two indefinite pronouns that have similar meanings. But they are used differently in a sentence. Let's check these two out!

Anything vs. Anyone

'Anything' and 'anyone' are two indefinite pronouns that have somehow similar spelling but they refer to different things. Let's see their differences.

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