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Anything or Any Thing?
What Is the Difference between "Anything" and "Any thing"?
"Anything" and "any thing" are easy to confuse because they sound identical.- "Anything" means a thing of any kind. It is similar in meaning to "something." For example:
- I cannot see anything.
- Is there anything you need?
- "Any thing" is a rare term. It is used to emphasize that you are referring to an object (as opposed to a person, animal, or idea). For example:
- You can hide the ball inside any thing. You cannot give it to a person.
More about "Anything" and "Any Thing"
Anything
"Anything" (one word) is a pronoun that means a thing of any kind (i.e., a thing, no matter what it is).Examples of "anything" in sentences:
- Positive anything is better than negative nothing.
(Author Elbert Hubbard)
- When the sun is shining, I can do anything; no mountain is too high.
(Athlete Wilma Rudolph)
- A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
(Physicist Albert Einstein)
Any Thing
The two-word version ("any thing") is used to emphasize that you are referring to any object, as opposed to any person, animal, or idea.Examples of "any thing" in sentences:
- If any thing is sacred, the human body is sacred. (Poet Walt Whitman)
- You may not take pictures of people, but you can take a picture of any thing.
Example:
- He blurts any related thing that comes into his head.
- Every movie is like a little company, and any little thing can ruin it. (Businessmen Ryan Kavanaugh)
- Any things left unattended will be removed.

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