Any questions what does this word mean

I, too, am unsure of the rule. But I might say:
Call me if you have A question. «Any question» just sounds funny, although it might be valid.
The more common usage (EEUU) is «any questions» in my experience. Maybe another forero will quote for you a formal rule.

«Are there any questions» = ¿Alguien tiene pregunta?

I agree with JB, strange does it sound «any question».

«Call me with any questions you may have».

Yeah, it still sounds better in plural. Though thinking about it, even though it is not a question, it works in the ambiguous or uncertain tense that «any» works with… which is generally plural.

«Do you have any cats, hats, tires, fires, mice, etc»
They all run in plural.

However at the beginning of a sentence, in a more certain, assertive, authoritative tense, singularity is fine.

«Any question can be answered…»
«Any child can learn to swim»
«Any wall can be torn down» etc

But,for instance,if we take the example of wordreference(«take any book you want«),it sounds to you better in the singular than in the plural,doesn’t it?
If so,then,as you say,there are some words in affirmative sentences that sound better in singular and others in plural?

That is affirmative though, you know what books there are and are inviting the listener to take any one… no reason it couldn’t be plural, if you wanted to offer this person multiple books I guess… though singular seems like the default.

I have to admit as well that I don’t know the definitive rule either (or even that there is one), but thinking about various examples, it seems this way.

But Sevendays,looking up the word any in wordreference again,according to it, any with both meanings(«of whatever kind/no matter which» and every/all)takes the singular form.

(no matter which): take ~ book you want llévate cualquier libro
(every, all): in ~ large school, you’ll find that … en cualquier or todo colegio grande, verás que …

Then,according to wordreference,we should use the singular in both cases,shouldn’t we?

Well, no. I think the dictionary is referring to semantics (meaning); that is, any has the same meaning as every and all. If I say, in any large school, my meaning is the same as saying all and every large school. The three are semantically similar. However, syntactically (that is, the arrangement of words in a sentence), they are not equal: any can go with singular and plural nouns (any school can participate; in any large school, you’ll find that; are any schools open today?), every can only be followed by singular nouns (in every large school, you’ll find that; every school has a summer break), and all can only be followed by plural nouns (all schools must teach English; in all schools, you’ll find that …).

About your other message, yes, that’s my understading of any book(s) and any question(s). I think it comes down to expectations. If I say, take any book, it is generally understood that you take only one book, probably because it is quite likely that there is a limited amount of books available. On the other hand, it isn’t logical to think there is only a «limited» number of questions you can think of; in fact, the opposite is reasonable: there is no limit as to how many questions one can think of. That’s why it feels more natural to say feel free to text me any questions. But if by «any» we mean «all,» (as the dictionary says) then I don’t see why we couldn’t use the singular: text me any question (but we need to keep in mind that the natives say: it sounds odd). And just remember, if you choose «all,» then, syntactically, the plural form must follow: feel free to text me all questions.

I hope I’m not confusing you….
Saludos

Yes, to the question, and yes to your conclusion: that’s how I see it. Perhaps the natives will give us a broader perspective.
Cheers

This, is the definitive explanation that you should pay attention to.

if the word «any» comes directly after a verb, i think the noun thats attached to it has to be in the plural , I can’t think of any word where this is not the case (in this case «of» separates the verb from «any». When standing alone you can use a singular (any book that is fiction is not true) (any dog that is not potty trained will urinate in it’s home) But if its attached to a verb you must pluralize it (Do we have any books that are fiction) (Are there any dogs over there?) If its important to stress the singularity, you have to switch «any» to «a»

this is only a guess though.

This is correct usage

Don’t say that;actually,all of you have been really helpful,as always.It’s just that it’s impossible to explain everything of a language through the grammar,sometimes we say something at the expense or other one and why don’t know why,just because it sounds better to us,it happens to me more often than not in Spanish…..

I have drawn some conclusions though:

-After a verb:Any+plural.
-Not after a verb:Any+plural/singular—there has been controversy about how to know which form is more natural in each case(Sevendays:the plural suggests I’m interested in or expecting that you have more than one book on English usage;obz:As much as you may want it to make sense that way… it just is not how it is used) so maybe in this cases the only way to know which form sounds more natural is learning each word by heart.At least we know that both forms are correct are gramatically correct….
-If you don’t want to to make life difficult for yourself and you want to stress singularity:»a»

obz,I did not realise before,but I think that «the rule» after verb:any+plural probably is not correct.

And the example is very clear:the one used by wordreference that we have also talked about in this thread: Take any book you want

Are you familiar with the 4 english moods: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and indicative? I think that sentence just works because in that sentence «take» functions as a command, and is in the imperative mood. In any command you could use any + singular (eat any slice of pizza that you want). You could also do the same in any declarative statement (Im going to take any book I want). But if the sentence is interrogative or indicative that rule still applies: (Did you take any books off the shelf?) and (Julia didn’t take any books off the shelf) I’m not sure why commands and declarative statements don’t follow that rule, but if you make «take» function as solely a verb in the indicative or interrogative mood, it still works, as do all other verbs.

obz,I did not realize before,but I think that «the rule» after verb:any+plural probably is not correct.

It is.

And the example is very clear:the one used by wordreference that we have also talked about in this thread: Take any book you want

Véase debajo.

Es bien complejo, pero se ha vuelto a plantear aquí la explicación incontestable.
No sé que más podría hacerse para ayudar. Pon ejemplos sí quieres y te ayudaremos, pero lo que ha dicho ya, y ha vuelto a decir kbck777 es lo correcto.

Ander y SevenDays, Os deseo mucha suerte

I think that sentence just works because in that sentence «take» functions as a command, and is in the imperative mood. In any command you could use any + singular (eat any slice of pizza that you want). You could also do the same in any declarative statement (Im going to take any book I want). But if the sentence is interrogative or indicative that rule still applies: (Did you take any books off the shelf?) and (Julia didn’t take any books off the shelf)

You generally use the singular «any question» when you mean «any doubt», as in: «Is there any question that we would have had a better time if we’d had more money?»

You use «any questions» when you are soliciting real questions — «Do you have any questions about your homework?»

Ok,I get it.Thank you so much for wishing me luck,obz.I don’t have to pass more exams of English,as I already have the CPE(C2),but I still have to improve my English,especially my listening(there are some episodes of House,for instance,in which I don’t understand almost anything hehe).About realise I think I am right.It’s «realize» in American English and «realise» in British English,just a matter of style.I am European,so I am more used to writing in British English,as it is the one we learn here.

kbck777,I know that,but I was referring just to the afirmative sentences,

which are all this thread is about

,sorry if I didn’t make myself understood….I meant that maybe the rule is not correct in afirmative sentences

By the way,is it correct which are all this thread is about?Because I have always heard «This is all it is about» and sentences like like,but I don’t know if I had made a good use of this structure in this sentence.

I agree with kbck777 about which is all this thread is about.Let’s change the order of the sentences:

—which are all this thread is about:All this thread is about

is

the concept of affirmative sentences

—which are the only thing this thread is about:I think this one is gramatically incorrect. Because we would say «the only thing this thread is about

is

affirmative sentences/the concept of affirmative sentence»,so I think this sentence should read which is the only thing this thread is about

—which are all this thread is about:All this thread is about

are

affirmative sentences.Gramatically correct,but I think it’s more common to say the first one than this one,because although when we say which are all this thread is about,obviously we don’t say the concept of,we are referring to it.

I think a similar case could be the following one:

-it’s been 3 days since………..:with it we are referring to «the period of time»,not to «the number of days»

Please correct me if I am talking nonsense,I just want to make sure that I have understood this matter

Hi, Ander1234.

Most of your English is fine, so I will not quote your whole post.

… All this thread is about

are

affirmative sentences.

I see this

are

as incorrect because all, the main word in the subject, means «the only thing». In English, the verb agrees only with the subject, not the complement (unless the subject is there).

… Please correct me if I am talking nonsense,I just want to make sure that I have understood this matter.

In «which is/are all this thread is about», the subject as I see it is not «all this thread is about» but which, and the source of confusion is whether which stands for something plural or for something singular. In fact, it can stand for either:

… the affirmative sentences, which are all this thread is about.
The affirmative sentences

are

all this thread is about.

I was referring to …, which is all this thread is about.
My referring to …

is

all this thread is about.

… the affirmative sentences, which (matter) is all this thread is about.
(The matter of) the affirmative sentences

is

all this thread is about.

I consider this last version confusing as well as rather awkward without the part in parentheses.

Hi, SevenDays.

I am impressed with your explanation. You have suggested some important points in very fluent English. I hope you don’t mind my picking it apart.

Hello

Two rules have been presented. One says if any comes after a verb, the noun that follows must be plural. When it was pointed out that take any book violates such rule, a second rule was offered: in any command, any + singular can be used. You can do the same in any declarative statement. Let’s test our original sentence against this rule, using logic:

Any + singular can be used in any declarative sentence.
Feel free to text me with any question is a declarative sentence.
Therefore, any + singular can be used in feel free to text me with any question.

Actually «Feel free to text me …» is a command/imperative, but I suspect the type or mode of a sentence is really not relevant. «You can feel free to text me …» works just as well, as does «Am I free to text you with any question?», with stress on the word any.

This conclusion is supported by the following syntactic analysis (with apologies to grammarians for any errors, which I hope they will correct):
With requires a direct an object to complete its meaning; question is the direct object, and is therefore a noun phrase. Question is a count noun (one question, two questions, etc.). In a noun phrase, a single count noun must have a determiner (compare feel free to text questions with feel free to text question; the latter isn’t grammatical).

I think this is a very important point. We natives have a feel for these determiners, but they are difficult to explain.

For example, English and Spanish both use articles and share the idea of definite vs. indefinite.

Speakers of Russian are at a disadvantage because we seem to use these things for lots of different purposes and yet we seem unable to classify or enumerate them in a consistent manner. But the corresponds rather well with el/la/los/las, and a(n) with un/una, so they cause few problems between English and Spanish.

But the question of when to use no article at all, or when to use some other determiner, such as any, is another matter altogether. We have as much trouble explaining these things to each other as we have trying to explain definiteness to a Russian.

The determiner «any» can be used with singular count and plural count nouns (any question, any questions). Therefore, feel free to text me with any question is a grammatical construction.

Yet, feel free to text me with any question sounds odd, at least to some people, probably, as I said in post #8, because the expectation is that one would have more than one question to ask; the singular any question is counterintuitive. «Any» has a strong quantitative aspect (referring to a quantity of questions). We can, however, attach a complement to any question and remove its quantitative nature: Feel free to text me with any question (that) you can think of
Feel free to text me with any question of your choosing.

The complements give any question a qualitative aspect: the quality (that) you can think of/of your choosing.

Feel free to text me with any questions has an advantage: it doesn’t require any complements to complete its meaning (we know any refers to quantity) and therefore is preferable.

I think I see what you are saying, but I would have used different terminology. What the speaker expects is not quite the point, which seems to be something more like what the speaker wishes to communicate about definiteness, what the speaker cares about, or something similar. Rather than quality or complement(s), maybe the issue is qualification, such as with a «restrictive» modifier. In Spanish a definite article, indicating a fully qualified noun phrase, together with a subjunctive, indicating something not fully realized, seems to express the same idea as any, at least in certain contexts.

We may argue that feel free to text me with any question(s) is really a hypothetical sentence, with the meaning of if you have any question(s), feel free to text me. Garner’s Modern American Usage says hypothetical any means «a (no matter which)» or «some,» and gives as an example if any problem were to arise, what would it likely be?» If that’s the case, then if any problem were to arise, feel free to text me works just as well.

The same logic applies to if you have any book on English usage, please let me know. A preferance has been stated for if you have a book on English usage, but all we’ve done, syntactically, is replace one indefinite determiner (any) with another (a). However, the meaning changes slightly: a book is factual (one book), without any connotations. Any book suggests I don’t care as to the nature of the «one» book; it could be old, new, thin, in two volumes, reader friendly, hard to follow, etc.) It is the same as the difference in Spanish between un libro and cualquier libro.

Would you say «si tienen cualquier libro sobre …», or would it be «si tienen algún libro sobre …»? Is there a difference?

To me any book suggests I don’t care which one book, though I might indeed care about the nature of it.

(Any and all corrections are appreciated; we are all here to learn.)

Cheers

I hope this helps. Personally, I think we are getting closer to the answer.