... part two:
Here's another example: If your friend says that he is going to spend six months in New York, you might worry that he's going to be lonely there, so you could ask, in a concerned way 'Do you know anybody in New York?'. By 'anybody' you mean a friend, a relative, a colleague... or nobody at all. When you ask this question, you have in your mind the possibility that the answer will be 'no'. But if he implies that he does know someone there - perhaps by making a reference to who he'll be staying with - you could just check that this is true by saying 'So, do you know someone in New York?'.
'Have you lost something?' is a perfectly natural question in the circumstances. It means 'Have you lost a book?' 'Have you lost a pen?' and so on. The other person is fairly sure that you must have lost something - why else would you be looking under the bed? The speaker is just confirming that this is the case, and is expecting you to say what it is that you are looking for.
I agree with Phil. I think either you or your textbook interpreted the situation far too narrowly by suggesting that we <em>only </em>use 'some' words in questions when we are offering or requesting. In fact, we can use something/someone/somewhere in <em>any </em>kind of question when we are confirming a fact as opposed to asking a completely 'open' question.
In fact, you can make an offer by saying either 'Would you like something to drink?' or 'Would you like anything to drink?'. Both questions are correct, and both are fulfilling the same function, but they are subtly different. In the first question, the person saying 'Would you like something to drink?' is presuming that the other person probably wants a drink. They don't know whether the person wants water, beer or fruit juice, which is why they say 'something' rather than naming a specific drink.In the second question, 'Would you like anything to drink?' they have in their mind the idea that the other person may not want anything to drink. 'Some' words imply a positive situation, while 'any' and 'no' words (which are mirror images of each other) imply a negative situation or the possiblity of a negative situation. You are half-expecting a 'No' answer when you say 'anything'?
Wow! Awesome!
Thank you very much Su,Ki.
