Some or Any?

 "Hi, VOA Learning English. I want to know how to use ‘any' & ‘some.'"
“美国之音英语教学节目，你好，我想要知道如何使用any 和some这两个单词。

Answer:
回复：

Dear Eri,
亲爱的埃里，

It often seems like English speakers use the words ‘any' and ‘some' in exactly the same way.  People use both words to describe an amount of something, but usually not an exact amount. Also, ‘any' and ‘some' often appear in similar sentences or questions.
英语人士似乎常常以完全相同的方式来使用any和some这两个单词。人们把这两个单词都用于描述物品的数量，但是通常是指不确切的数量。同样，any和some通常出现在相似的句子或问题中。

For example, let us say you are at school and your teacher tells the class to start working on a writing project. Your friend turns to you and asks a question in one of two ways:
例如，假设你在学校，老师让同学们开始写作。你的朋友转向你，用下面的两种方式之一向你提问：

"Do you have any paper?" or "Do you have some paper?"
“你有纸吗？”

In both cases, your friend does not have the paper needed to do the work and is asking if you have extra paper they can use. But they are not asking for an exact amount of paper, like one or two or even three pieces.
在这两种情况下，你的朋友没有写作业要用的纸，问你有没有多余的纸给他用。但是他们并没有问你要具体数量的纸张，例如要一两张甚至三张。

The biggest difference between ‘any' and ‘some' is that the word you use in your answer depends on the kind of answer you will give.
这两个单词之间最大的区别是，你回答时用哪个词，取决于你给出的回答的类型。

Let us say you bought a lot of paper at the start of the school year, so you do have extra that you can share with your friend. In this case, you will make a positive statement.
假设你在开学时购买了很多纸，因此你有多余的纸张可以跟朋友分享。在这种情况下，你将作出肯定的回答。

You say: "Yes, I have some. Here you go!"
你会说：“是的，我有呢，给你。”

However, let us say you already gave the extra paper you once had to other classmates and you have no more to share. In this case, you will make a negative statement.
然而，假设你已经把多余的纸张给其他同学了，你再没有纸给别人了。在这种情况下，你将会作出否定的回答。

You say: "No, I do not have any. Sorry!"
你会说：“不，我没纸了，对不起！”

But there is one kind of positive statement you can make using the word ‘any.' That is when someone asks you a question and it is not important or easy for you to give an exact answer.
但是有一种肯定回答你可以使用any这个单词。这就是当有人问你时，而你没有必要或者很难给出具体答案。

For example, let us say your teacher wants you to write about your interests. So he or she asks you: "What is your favorite movie?"
例如，假设老师让给你写兴趣爱好。所以他（她）问你：“你最喜欢哪部电影？”

You think and think, but cannot think of one you like more than others. So you answer with: "Any movie that has action in it!"
你想啊想，但是想不出哪部更喜欢。所以你可以回答：“只要是动作片我都喜欢。”

And that's Ask A Teacher!
以上就是本期名师答疑的全部内容。