Grammar reference and practice 3.2

3.2 ■ Indefinite pronouns and adverbs: some-, any-, no-, every-

We use indefinite pronouns that combine some-, any-, no- and every- with -body, -one or -thing to refer to people and things without saying exactly who or what they are.

The pronouns somebody and someone mean the same; so do anybody and anyone, everybody and everyone, etc. Note that the indefinite pronoun no one is two separate words.

Somebody is upstairs.

There isn't anything in the fridge.

I opened the door, but no one was there.

In English, a sentence can only contain one negative form, so an affirmative verb must be used with pronouns or adverbs formed with no-.

No one came to the party. I didn't see anyone.

NOT No one didn't come. I didn't see no one.

We can use the same combination of some-, any-, no- and every- with -where to form the adverbs somewhere, anywhere, nowhere and everywhere. These words refer to places.

I looked everywhere but I couldn't find my shoes.

The station is somewhere near here.

This animal is found in Australia and nowhere else.

Note that after indefinite pronouns and adverbs we always use a singular verb.

Everyone knows about it.

NOT Everyone know about it.

1Complete the words with some, any, no or every. 

• 1We invited a lot of people to the concert but someanynoeverybody came.

• 2My dog follows me someanynoeverywhere. He even follows me to school.

• 3SomeAnyNoEveryone is talking upstairs. Who is it?

• 4I looked for a present for Mum, but I didn't buy someanynoeverything in the end.

• 5Have you been someanynoeverywhere today?

• 6A lot of children get bored in the summer. They say that there's someanynoeverything to do.

• 7'Do you know someanynoeveryone who lives in London?' 'Yes, a few people.'

• 8This place is very popular. SomeAnyNoEverybody likes it.

 2Complete the sentences with an indefinite pronoun or adverb. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

• 1I didn't go  this weekend. I stayed at home.

• 2In the past, you couldn't buy spices in many places, but now you can find them .

• 3Teresa made a cake, but  liked it. It wasn't sweet enough.

• 4What did I do with my MP3 player? I know I put it  in this room.

• 5Here's the menu. Would you like  to drink?

• 6 lent me €5 recently, but I can't remember who it was.

• 7I've eaten  at all today. That's why I'm so hungry!

• 8It's very dark here. I can't see .