italki - Is it all right to use “someone” in this context? - for native speakers of English. I’m aware that y

Mikkel

Is it all right to use “someone” in this context? - for native speakers of English. I’m aware that you normally use ”anyone” and not “someone” in a negative sentence. For instance I would say “I haven't told anyone.” and not “I haven't told someone.” But recently someone here on Italki asked a question and I suggested she could write “I don’t have any luck with girls/boys/men/women. I never meet someone I really like.” I deliberately chose “someone” instead of “anyone” in “I never meet someone I really like,” because for some inexplicable reason I prefer it in this context. Now my question is: Do you think it’s strange or incorrect to write “I never meet someone I really like”? instead of “I never meet anyone I really like”? Thanks for your opinion.

Nov 28, 2016 1:04 PM

Answers · 10

I don't like your sentence as you've written it, using the word "meet" in what is, I guess, some form of the present tense. However, I think you can rewrite it as "I haven't met someone I really like," or "I haven't yet met someone I really like," or "I have yet to meet someone I really like." These sound right to me, and the choice of "someone" feels natural and conveys a different meaning from "anyone." Here, you would be using "someone" to carry the idea of a destined soulmate, the one person who is right for you. "I haven't met anyone I really like" carries the idea of there are "many fish in the sea," many possibilities, but I haven't found any of them yet. This use occurs in the stock phrase "that certain special someone." A similar use is common in dozens of song lyrics; the first one that comes to my mind is a Gershwin song of the 1940s: "There's a somebody I'm longing to see, I hope that he Turns out to be Someone to watch over me."

November 28, 2016