Any or anyone

Hello, Nick.

It is my understanding that "family" can be plural in BrE, so in the UK you can say "any of my family" to mean "any of my family members."

Alternatively, you can say "anyone in my family," as you suggested.

Hi Gustavo,

Thank you very much. Do you mind if I ask another question?

Sometimes I say a prayer along the lines of " I have never really wished that anyone, above all else my wife J, and my daughter O and my son G, was is and will be injured, ill...."

and I wonder if it is grammatically correct to say instead " I have never really wished that anyone above all else not my wife J nor my daughter O, nor my son G, was is and will be...." ?

Many thanks.

Nick

I think negation is sufficiently conveyed by "never," so using "not" and "nor" would result in a double negative. To reinforce the negative, you might want to use, as David once suggested to you here, "least of all" instead of "above all else." Also, since the negative form governs the whole structure, I think "and" should be changed to "or":

-  I have never really wished that anyone, least of all my wife J, my daughter O or my son G, was, is or will be injured, ill...."

Hi Gustavo

thank you very much for your reply. I would use “least of all....” but in my prayer I have a hierarchy of people so after I say “above all else my wife, daughter and son” I then say “and especially all of my family and particularly all of my wife J’s family.........” so if I used the term “least of all” I would not know what to say next in terms of scale.

so what I really want to know is that although “ above all else.....” may not be grammatically the best is it OK to use?

best regards

nick

Yes, "above all else" is correct. I only suggested (as did David in the past) using "least of all" to emphasize the negative. "least" need not refer to just one person and can refer to a group of people, whom you can mention in the order you desire.

Many thanks. I will leave you alone now!

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Yes, "above all else" is correct. I only suggested (as did David in the past) using "least of all" to emphasize the negative. "least" need not refer to just one person and can refer to a group of people, whom you can mention in the order you desire.

Hi Gustavo,

Can I please ask for some additional grammar help.

I currently say " I have never wished that anyone especially any and all of my family...."

should I instead say "I have never wished that anyone especially anyone and everyone in my family....."?

Many thanks.