Someone, nothing, anywhere...

Hello! Welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. I’m Finn.

And I’m Catherine. And today we’re talking about words like someone , nothing and anywhere .

So, let’s start by listening to Tracey. She’s talking to a friend about a problem she has.

And here’s a question for you: What is Tracey worried about? Here she is.

My boyfriend seems to be very busy these days. I’m worried there’s someone else in his life. I mean, most evenings he could be anywhere for all I know.

He always says that he couldn’t love anyone except me. And everyone knows that you should trust people you love. But do you think I should say something to him? There’s no one else I can ask.

So that’s Tracey. And we asked you: What is Tracey worried about?

And the answer is: She’s worried that there’s someone else in her boyfriend’s life.

Oh yes. Now someone is one of the words we’re looking at today. Someone means one person but it doesn’t say who.

That’s right, Tracey doesn’t know who it might be. And someone often goes with the word else . Someone else means one other person.

And Tracey used other words with one in them. Listen for them in this clip.

He always says that he couldn’t love anyone except me. And everyone knows that you should trust people you love. There ‘s no one else I can ask.

Right, so there’s anyone . That also means one person, but anyone is used mostly in questions and negative sentences.

Then there’s everyone : Everyone means all people.

And no one . There’s no one else I can ask. Notice the word else again,. No one else means no other person . You can also say anyone else. Or everyone else . That means all other people .

Now, in written English, someone , anyone and everyone are all one word but no one is two words: no and one.

That’s right. And somebody , anybody , everybody and nobody are used in exactly the same way as someone , anyone and the others. But nobody is one word. So that’s different from no one .

Let’s have another clip.

But do you think I should say something to him?

So this time we heard something . And of course we can also have anything , everything and nothing .

And something means: one thing .

Anything and everything mean all things .

And nothing means - no thing .

OK. Now let’s look at the verbs we use with all these words. Tracey said: there’s someone else and everyone knows .

She did. The interesting thing here is that they’re singular verbs: is and knows . We always always use a singular verb with these words. And what about the verb with no one and nothing ?

Like in the sentence: There’s no one else I can ask …

That’s right, it’s a singular verb again. We say there is not there are . And notice that it’s positive. It ‘s a common mistake to use a negative verb with the no words. So we don ‘t say ‘no one isn’t going’.

We say no one is going . And there ‘s an important point to make about everyone and everybody . Even though the verb is singular, we use they , their and them .

Everyone says they will come to the party .

Exactly. And it’s the same with no one and nobody . Nobody wants to know their exam results ! And now for the last clip.

I mean, most evenings he could be anywhere for all I know.

Now usually anywhere, anyone or anything, mean one place, person or thing. For example Is there anywhere to park the car?

But here anywhere means in any place , it doesn’t matter where exactly . And you can use anyone or anything in the same way.

So ask anyone means it doesn’t matter who you ask.

And I’ll eat anything means it doesn’t matter what I eat.

6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Right, it’s quiz time! Here’s number one: Which is correct? a) Anyone knows that London is the capital of the UK. Or b) Everyone knows that London is the capital of the UK.

It’s b).

That’s the one! Number two: a) Are you inviting anyone other? b) Are you inviting anyone else?

It’s b) again.

And now number three: a) Everyone put their coats on and left. b) Everyone put on his coat and left.

And it’s a).

Very good! Well done if you got all of those right.

And before we go, here’s a vocabulary tip. We often use someone, anyone, everyone and no one before adjectives and infinitives. So Is there anything nice to eat ? Or there ‘s nothing to eat.

Try making other sentences like that with these words and write them in your notebook.

There’s more about this at bbclearningenglish.com. So, join us again soon for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Bye! Bye!