What's the difference?

by **Super Monkey** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:51 pm

so my father and i got into it over the words "everyone" and "anyone" his claim is they mean the same...my claims is opposed to this. here's the example:

"everyone willing to go for a ride must pay the fee."

"anyone willing to go for a ride must pay the fee."

another similar example:

"every one of you have the ability to smile"

"any one of you have the ability to smile"

his claim is this anyone=everyone, everyone=anyone

MY claim is this anyone=specified, exclusive group, everyone=general, all inclusive group

ok so to break it down literally the difference in words is "any" and "every"

every->

adj.
1. Constituting each and all members of a group without exception.
2. Being all possible: had every chance of winning, but lost.
2. Being each of a specified succession of objects or intervals: every third seat; every two hours.
3. Being the highest degree or expression of: showed us every attention; had every hope of succeeding.

any->

adj.

1. One, some, every, or all without specification: Take any book you want. Are there any messages for me? Any child would love that. Give me any food you don't want.
2. Exceeding normal limits, as in size or duration: The patient cannot endure chemotherapy for any length of time.

now, i would say reverse the adj. in each definition for the examples given in the definition.
["showed us every attention->showed us any attention" | "take any book you want->take every book you want"]

ok, so which is right:

anyone=everyone, everyone=anyone
or
anyone=exclusive, everyone=inclusive

for the examples i gave above?

by **InkL0sed** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:54 pm

I didn't read that long post, because the difference is really quite simple (btw... does your dad speak English? Anybody that does could obviously tell that they're different...).

The difference:

Everyone is plural (it refers to an entire group of people); anyone is singular (it refers to just one of a group of people).

by **jonesthecurl** on Tue May 13, 2008 11:02 pm

Would anyone like a drink? (some say yes, some say no)

Would everyone like a drink? (all or nothing)

By the way I would, and I'm gonna go and have one.
Anyone gonna join me?

by **borox0** on Tue May 13, 2008 11:12 pm

What they said.

by **Super Monkey** on Tue May 13, 2008 11:29 pm

Every:: Being each one of a group or series without leaving out any.

Any:: One or some.

i found this too...

and thank you for your replies...i was going to show him this post, but he might think i'm still trying to be disrespectful, so i better just tell him that unanimously ppl agree with my thinking on this.

so another quick questions, which is important in the example...(what is the vital aspect of the phrase)

anyone vs everyone?

or the willingness to ride?

by **Hologram** on Wed May 14, 2008 1:01 am

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

Also, your examples really sucked.

by **Bertros Bertros** on Wed May 14, 2008 2:59 am

I thought everyone knew the difference between them. I really can't believe that anyone would think they're the same.

by **MeDeFe** on Wed May 14, 2008 3:22 am

What has been said, 'everyone' denotes a whole group, while 'anyone' denotes individuals in a group. There are cases where the two essentially come down to the same. As in your examples. There isn't much of a difference between saying that every person possesses the ability to smile, and that any random person you pick possesses the ability to smile.

jones' example is good to show the difference.