Anymore, Any more; Anyone, Any one; Everyone, Every one; Everybody, Every body
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Anymore, Any more; Anyone, Any one; Everyone, Every one; Everybody, Every body
Some words written as one word will differ in meaning when split into two words. So you need to know which word you really want.
Anymore: any longer, nowadays
Example: Harry doesn’t travel anymore.
Any more: something additional or further
Example: I don’t want any more cake.
Anyone: anybody
Example: Anyone can learn to cook but few can learn to cook well.
Any one: any single member of a group of people or things
Example: Can any one of you tell me the answer to my question?
Everyone: everybody
Example: Everyone on the list has contributed to the ASPCA.
Every one: each one
Example: I wish I could buy every one of those puppies.
Everybody: everyone
Example: Everybody is working harder today than ten years ago.
Every body: each body
Example: Every body requires protein, vitamins, and minerals.
Pop Quiz
1. I don’t want to talk about this anymore/any more.
2. I didn’t ask for anymore/any more work to be put on my desk.
3. Not everyone/every one has natural rhythm.
4. However, everyone/every one of us can learn to dance.
5. She doesn’t know anyone/any one in France.
6. He likes everybody/every body that he works with.
7. Anyone/Any one of you can redecorate the office if you would like.
8. Everybody/Every body is made up of bones, muscles, and flesh.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
2. I didn’t ask for any more work to be put on my desk.
3. Not everyone has natural rhythm.
4. However, every one of us can learn to dance.
5. She doesn’t know anyone in France.
6. He likes everybody that he works with.
7. Any one of you can redecorate the office if you would like.
8. Every body is made up of bones, muscles, and flesh
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I become so frustrated every time I use the phrase “any more” with my word processor, and it underlines it with green suggesting I remove the space! Though, it can get a little fuzzy when you are speaking of time as a unit (a noun, one more time, like one more piece of cake) rather than adverbally (when–anymore).
Michelle, I’m glad that this was helpful. I think of the “any more cake” situation this way: I would say or write, “I want no more cake.” The expression “no more” is always two words. Therefore, if I say/write, “I don’t want any more cake,” I should also use the two-word form.
I am confused about when to add an s to a verb when using the word “everyone.”
for example;
everyone loves
everyone love
which one is correct and why?
Thank you so much.
Our Rule 6 of Pronouns says, “Pronouns that are singular (I, he, she, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, someone, somebody, each, either, neither, etc.) require singular verbs. Therefore, write “everyone loves.” See our blog When to Add s to a Verb for more information on forming singular and plural verbs.
When I was in school (in the USA), and for many years after, “anymore” was not a word. It appeared in no dictionary. In the last few years, I’m seeing it everywhere. I’m guessing that respectable grammarians have recently accepted it as yet another concession to common stupidity and rapidly falling standards, along with the use of “their” in reference to a single person (“no one pays attention to their grammar anymore”). On one hand, I hate it. It just seems like giving up and lowering the bar. On the other hand, I know that much of what I’ve grown up believing to be “proper” English went through the very same process of first being improper but commonly used, then finally accepted, long before I was born.
I am fluent in three languages and pretty often I need to double check the grammar .This evening I ‘ve found a real rich website,I am going to stick to it for any further grammar quizzes!
Hopefully, you are referring to our site, GrammarBook.com!
There is no such word as “anymore”, it is TWO words, and always has been. Just because a bunch of illiterate idiots now get to publish their ‘work’ on the internet every day, in the form of ‘text speak’ forum posts, doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to adopt their STUPIDITY.
“Any more” is TWO words, NEVER one word.
I’m not sure what dictionary you’re using, but all of the dictionaries I’ve looked at clearly contain the word “anymore.”
I own two dictionaries, one circa 1958 when I was a college freshman, and one circa 1980s. he latter is one of the huge ones that you expect to find on a pedestal in a library, with a famous name like Oxford English Dictionary. Neither lists anymore as a word, and I find it jarring every time I come across it in print, which seems to have happened only in the last few years. Ditto for words that seem to me to NOT be compound words, such as back seat and back yard.
Anymore, backseat, and backyard are all valid words in American English and will be found in most any American English dictionary. Oxford English Dictionary lists words used in British English and may not include many words used in American English.
I love this website, and I use it all the time as an editing reference; especially when I need to justify a change to a document (I’m a “freelance” editor/writer, meaning I don’t have a real job. Ha!) I have used this site for years, and I am grateful to Ms. Straus for providing such an excellent source of knowledge and information. As for the person who wrote that “Any more is TWO words, NEVER one word,” my suggestion is that you do a simple check before insisting you’re an expert (and proclaiming that everyone else in the world is ignorant – a sure sign of ignorance on the part of the speaker). Any dictionary would have proved you wrong BEFORE making a fool of yourself.
‘Anymore’ is not a word in English, although it might be acceptable in American English. In English ‘any more’ as two separate words is correct.
Any more and anymore are distinctly different and have different meanings in American English.
Any more means something additional or further.
Example: I don’t want any more cake.
Anymore means any longer.
Example: Harry doesn’t travel anymore.
I wonder if the people who don’t believe “anymore” is a word are using an English dictionary (from England). American spelling can be incredibly different than English spelling.
Splog said:
[ ‘Anymore’ is not a word in English, although it might be acceptable in American English. In English ‘any more’ as two separate words is correct. ]
Splog, thank you for your clarification. I found this site specifically because I was seeking to determine whether “any more” was an acceptable usage in UK/International English as a replacement where “anymore” would be absolutely required in American English as detailed in the article. The usage of “anymore” versus “any more” in certain situations is taught in school in the United States as correct in order to differentiate the ideas conveyed by the two usages. I’ve been asked to line-edit a UK-writer’s work and I don’t want to come off as poorly-educated and provincial by correcting something that doesn’t need to be corrected!
I realize that those living in England feel that they speak the “real” English, and that technically those of us barbarians living elsewhere do, in fact, speak a dialect thereof–after all, the language is named after the country. However, if you ever happen back across this page and read this comment (or for anyone else who happens to be reading this comment and may make similar statements in the future), it would be helpful to clarify–even if only to assist Google or other search engines–that you mean something isn’t acceptable in UK or International English rather than just “English,” which can be confusing when only a snippet of the website content is returned in the search results. :)
what’s the difference between using someone and somebody?
The words someone and somebody are indefinite pronouns that are used interchangeably.
Which sentence is correct?
1. Any one of the dates is today’s date
2. Any one of the dates are today’s date
Your first sentence is grammatically correct with a period at the end.
Please Explain, Why?
WRONG: Everybody loves, and everybody loves you!
CORRECT: Everybody love it, and everybody loves you!
The sentence you have indicated as “WRONG” is correct: Everybody loves [it], and everybody loves you!
The pronoun everybody is singular and requires the singular verb loves. Please see our post When to Add s to a Verb for more information.
Is there a name for these words that can become word phrases and the meaning changes?
I think there is much confusion about these words, not only for English learners but also native speaker.
Does part of your site go into more examples?
We are not aware of any term that describes these sorts of word pairs. You are correct that they can create a lot of confusion, and that’s why we chose to focus on several common ones here. Our Confusing Words and Homonyms section contains many more examples of words that are frequently misunderstood.
Excellent quiz! Thank you so much!
Useful lesson. I’ve been using those words incorrectly. Now I know when and how to use them.
8. Everybody/Every body is made up of bones, muscles, and flesh.
The more I look at the answer to this question, the more it appears to me either answer would work depending on what the writer wants to convey. Everyone is made up of…. Each one is made up of…. Please explain.
We agree that either term can suffice depending on the context. If you want to convey that all people are made up of bones, muscle, and flesh, use everybody. If you wish to express that each human body is made of those materials, use every body.
I’m surprised at those who say that “anymore” is not a word and that it has just recently been used by Americans and that it is a degradation of proper English. “Anymore” is in Webster’s with a first known use of “14th century.” It means something very different from “any more.”
If I don’t have any more apples, then I can’t eat apples anymore.
If there is a degradation of English, it is in the failure to distinguish between these two meanings by confusingly using “any more” in both cases. It is less clear as to meaning. Therefore I consider the apparently “American” usage to be preferable in this case. What’s more, it is simply wrong in American English to write otherwise.
It seems most of the readers who claim that anymore is not a word are following British English rules. British and American usage and guidelines can differ, but the discussion is always relevant and interesting.
Re: Question 6. He likes everybody/every body that he works with. Your given correct answer was “everybody.” However, suppose “he” is a masseur, in which case “every body” could be deemed the preferred answer. Context is important.
My advice would be to disregard and discontinue the usage of “anymore” since the appropriate phrase should be “any longer”. I say this because “any longer” is more formal (while anymore is informal), and if you would like your writing / speech to be taken seriously, you should always opt to use formal phrases. In American English, I hardly ever see the phrase “any longer” in lieu of the phrase “anymore” and consider it to be an example of incorrect usage. I also advocate the discontinued usage of “anymore” because non-native English speakers may become confused between the phrases “anymore” and “any more”. It would be simpler to substitute the phrase “any longer” in lieu of “anymore” and keep the phrase “any more” as two words as this would lessen the chances of becoming confused.
You may be accepting the ridiculous change in spelling “any more” as one word, but those of us who remember when it was not in any dictionary aren’t going to fall for that. I have a master’s degree in English; I was born in 1960. I can remember our dictionaries and our teachers specifically teaching us not to do that.
I don’t mind somebody saying that that word is okay to spell as one word as an alternate spelling. It’s another thing to invent a meaning that requires that spelling.
I’m not going to use that one-word spelling no matter what meaning I have for “any more.” At most, it should just be saying in the dictionary that it is an alternate spelling and leave it at that.
We appreciate that language–here in the U.S., English in particular–is central to self-expression. For that reason, some will hold fast to the principles they learned during their education and development. At the same time, new generations and changing times will always influence components of language, some of which might remain indigenous to certain groups of people. If that usage remains persistent enough, it may make its way into popular usage, where it may then last or eventually fade.
I sure hope this is okay and not offensive. A commenter wrote, “I don’t mind somebody saying that that word is okay to spell as one word as an alternate spelling.”
I’ve always been uncomfortable when I’ve written “… that that …” Is it grammatically correct?
Technically it is correct; however, the awkward construction can be avoided simply by removing one “that”: “I don’t mind somebody saying that word is okay to spell as one word…”
English is a living language; therefore, it must be allowed to change. I frequently must remind myself of this.