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'A person', 'anyone', someone

S subhajit123Member

Hello, I have a trouble understanding the differences between 'a person', 'someone' and 'anyone' in the following sentences?

1- I am not interested in talking to someone/a person/anyone who is afraid of standing up against injustice.
2- Our company is looking for a person/someone who has a good experience in the computer.
3- When you don't like a person/someone/anyone, you avoid them.
4- When a girl doesn't want to carry on a conversation with someone/a person, she texts late.

5- I don't want a person/someone/anyone to interrupt me, when I am speaking.

Original Post
Gustavo, Co-ModeratorGustavo, Co-ModeratorProfessor of Legal and Financial Translation

Hi, Subhajit,

I understand you have made up the sentences yourself, haven't you? I won't revise them and will instead focus on your question.

In the affirmative, "a person" is the same as "someone":

(a) I'm interested in talking to someone/a person who loves grammar.

In the affirmative, "anyone" carries the meaning of "no matter who":

(b) I'm interested in talking to anyone who loves grammar.

Depending on the context, in the negative anyone can combine with "not" to form "no one," or can mean "just any person":

(c) I'm not interested in talking to someone/a person who hates grammar. ("Someone/a person" can be a specific person.)

(d) I'm not interested in talking to anyone who hates grammar. (This is more emphatic than (c), meaning that no one who hates grammar will arouse my interest in holding a conversation with them.)

(e) I'm not just interested in talking to anyone who loves grammar. (Here, "anyone" does not combine with "not" to form "no one." The meaning is: I'm not just interested in talking to anyone, but only with someone in particular, perhaps an expert grammarian.)

Last edited by Gustavo, Co-Moderator

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