11.13 Some, any, no

Consider the following examples:

I like some books by Greene.
(M'agraden alguns llibres de Greene.)

I like any books by Greene.
(M'agrada qualsevol dels llibres de Greene.)

(Note that ‘‘any’’ is NOT negative.)

I like no books by Greene.
(No m'agrada cap llibre de Greene.)

I like no books by Greene is formal, and we can express the same meaning more informally like this:

I don't like any books by Greene.
(No m'agrada cap llibre de Greene.)

Notice that you will often see and hear double negatives, for example:

I can't get no satisfaction.
(No puc aconseguir satisfacció.)

Some people consider double negatives incorrect, and we advise you to avoid them.

These words are the central members of a group of words with similar grammatical characteristics:

	Affirmative	¹	Negative
Determiner	some (books)	any (books)	no (books)
Pronoun	some	any	none
Indefinite person	somebody someone	anybody anyone	nobody no one
Indefinite thing	something	anything	nothing
Indefinite place	somewhere	anywhere	nowhere
Indefinite time	sometimes	ever	never

¹ All of these words can go in positive statements, but their most frequent use is in questions and in statements with a negative word: not, no, never, etc.

Examples of determiners some, any and no:

I bought some olives and some cheese.
(Vaig comprar olives i formatge.)

A: Did you buy any grapes? (Vas comprar raïm?)

B: No, we didn't buy any fruit at all. (No, no en vam comprar gens.)

There isn't any sugar left.
(No queda sucre.)

I've got no clean shirts.
(No tinc camises netes.)

Examples of some of the other words:

I asked for some garlic but they hadn't got any.
(Vaig demanar all però no en tenien.)

The teacher invited the whole class but none of the girls came.
(La mestra va convidar tota la classe, però no va venir cap noia.)

(Note that we cannot say, e.g.: The teacher invited the whole class but ~~nobody/no one~~ of the girls came.)

We'll have to do something for Peter.
(Haurem de fer alguna cosa per en Peter.)

A: Do they ever go out? (Surten mai?)

B: No, never. (No, mai.)

I haven't seen Susan anywhere.
(No he vist la Susan enlloc.)

For ever and never, see also present perfect simple. See also many, much, and expressions that go with countable and uncountable nouns.