Grammar question

by **tarek99** Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:44 am

Hi!

I'd like to know the actually different between no one and nobody, someone and somebody, anyone and someone. I had several questions wrong on SC because of my lack of understanding of these words.

Would appreciate your input!
thanks

by **Guest** Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:21 am

also I can add anybody and somebody! :) very confusing words when such words are tested...

by **StaceyKoprince** Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:27 pm

These are all indefinite pronouns. In most circumstances, the two forms of a word are interchangeable (eg, everyone and everybody). I'd need to see a specific example if you had a sentence which indicated that only one of these was correct - I can't think of an illustration myself. The key thing to remember with these is that they are all singular (yes, even everyone and everybody). These last two often get tested when the test wants to see whether you know your pronoun agreement.

For example, when I start class, I might say, "Could everybody please turn off their cell phones?"
But that's grammatically incorrect! Everybody is singular and their is plural. So, even though this is how everybody talks in everyday speech, we're speaking incorrectly.

You also mention "anyone" vs "someone" - those two are different forms because they have different prefixes. Anyone means any person at all - it is completely vague / non-specific. Someone is also pretty vague / non-specific but it is a little more precise than anyone. I don't think I've ever seen an official GMAT question that requires you to choose simply based on the meaning of these two words - I'd need to see a specific sentence to advise you further.

If you've got a specific sentence / problem to share, please do. (I know we have a ton of banned sources now - I apologize if the questions you have in mind are from those sources.)