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If + anything or something He asked if there was anything/ something else he could do. Is it " anything or something? what about in conditionals . If there is something / anything wrong, tell me.
Oct 20, 2014 8:44 PM
Answers · 2
1
In the examples you give, there is virtually no difference in meaning between using 'something' and 'anything'. But in general, the word 'something' suggests that you have one specific thing in mind, while 'anything' is much more open.
October 20, 2014
Anything and something have the same meaning, but anything implies more than one thing. Something implies just one thing. In the first sentence, it would be "he asked if there was anything else that he could do" because, since he was being polite, he would ask if there was more than one more thing that he could do. And in the second sentence, it would be "If there is something wrong, tell me." I'm not quite sure why it is that one in this instance, but it sounds better that way. Does that make any more sense?
October 20, 2014
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