Indefinite pronouns and expressions

1. Indefinite pronouns – Every / Some / No / Any:

• Structure :
o We can use the words “every”, “some”, “no” and “any” together with “one/body”, “thing” and “where” to make
compound nouns. “one/body” refers to a person, “thing” refers to thing/s and “where” refers to places.

No (negative itself, for Any (with negative

Every Some (affirmative)
Sometimes is used negative/questions negative sentences) sentences and questions)
Sometimes is used in affirmative

Everyone: all the people.
Todos/as (personas)
Everything: all the things.
Todas las cosas (cosas)
Everywhere: all the places
Todos los sitios / por todas
partes. (lugares /sitios)
Someone: a person, but we
don’t know who.
Alguien/alguno (personas)
Something: a thing, but we
don’t know which.
Algo, alguna cosa. (cosas)
Somewhere: a place, but we
don’t know where.
En algún lugar/sitio/lado
(lugares/sitios)
No one/nobody: none of the Anyone: any person / any of
people. the people.
Nadie / Ninguno. (personas) Alguien. Cualquiera. Todos
los que… (personas).
Nothing: none of the things. Anything: any of the things.
Nada. (cosas) Cualquier cosa. Alguna cosa.
Algo. (cosas)
Nowhere: none of the places. Anywhere: any of the places.
En ninguna parte / en ningún Ninguna parte. Ningún lugar.
lugar (lugares/sitios) Ningún sitio. Cualquier parte,
cualquier lugar. Cualquier
sitio. (lugares/sitios)

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 Indefinite pronouns and expressions

1. Indefinite pronouns – Every / Some / No / Any:

• Characteristics and examples:
o All of these words are singular.
• Something smells nice. Algo huele bien.
• No one is here. Nadie está aquí.
• Nothing was found. Nada fue encontrado.
• Everywhere was full. Todo estaba lleno.
• Someone has opened my locker. Alguien ha abierto mi taquilla.
o We use ”some” to talk about a limited number or amount; and we use ”any” for an
unlimited number or amount. For example, imagine you are talking about different kinds
of cars. All these sentences are possible:
• I like any kind of cars. (= all kinds of cars, unlimited)
• I don't like any kind of cars. (= 0 kinds of cars, unlimited)
• I like some kinds of cars. (= a limited number of kinds of cars)
• I don't like some kinds of cars. (= a limited number of kinds of cars)

o We don’t use negatives with “nothing”, “no one” and “nowhere”.

• I didn’t buy nothing in the shop. – I bought nothing in the shop.

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 Indefinite pronouns and expressions
Limited Unlimited
Can we use both ”some” and ”any” in questions?

• Would you like some more cake?

• Would you like any more to drink?

• Here the difference is very small. The speaker is thinking of a limited amount in the first question, and an
unlimited amount in the second question. In both questions we could use ”some” or ”any” taking into account the
difference in their uses.
• Sometimes we use ”some” when we expect the answer to be “yes”. We use ”any” when we don’t know what the
answer will be; we are asking whether something exists.

• Can I have some coffe? (I know there’s some coffe)

• Is there any cake left? (I don’t know whether there’s any cake left)
• Are you looking for somebody? (I think you are – the answer is yes)
• Is anybody coming to meet you? (I don’t know – I’m not sure)
2. “all / some / none / any/ of them”:

• With other nouns and pronouns, we use “all of”, “some of” and
“none of” + plural or uncountable noun/pronoun. Friends?
Some, not all…
• All of them are yours. Todos ellos son tuyos.
• Some of the teachers are really nice. Algunos profesores
son realmente buenos.
• None of my friends called me yesterday. Ninguno de mis
amigos me llamó ayer. Uncountable
• Do any of you know the answer? ¿Alguno de vosotros
sabe la respuesta?
• None of the sugar is mine. Nada del azúcar es mío. 3
I don’t have a clue!
 Modal verbs

3. “should”, “shouldn’t”, “ought to” and “had (‘d) better”:

• Structure :
o Affirmative - S + should/ought to/had better + MV (inf.) + C
• You should do your homework.
• “Deberías hacer tus deberes.”
• Es una buena idea que hagas tus deberes.
• Consejo sin consecuencias.
• You ought to do your homework.
• “Deberías hacer tus deberes.”
• Es una buena idea que hagas tus deberes.
• Consejo sin consecuencias.
• You had better do your homework or you will suffer a punishment in class tomorrow.
• “Mejor haz tus deberes o sufrirás un castigo en clase mañana.”
• Deberías hacer tus deberes o afronta las consecuencias.
• Advertencia con consecuencias negativas si no se sigue el consejo.

o Negative – S + should (not)-shouldn’t/ought (not)-oughtn’t to/had(‘d) better (not) + MV (inf.) + C

• You shouldn’t eat all the pizza.
• You oughtn’t to wake up so early tomorrow.
• You had better not use your mobile phone in class without permission.

o Interrogative – Should + S + MV (inf. w/o to) + C?

• Should she send you the homework? 4
 Modal verbs

3. “should”, “shouldn’t”, “ought to” and “had (‘d) better”: (Uses)

o We use “should”, “shouldn’t”, “ought to” and “had/‘d better” to give and ask for advice
and recommendations.
o We use “should” and “ought to” to tell someone that something is (not) a good idea:
o When you go to the beach you should bring a ball to play.
o If you want to get a higher mark you ought to start studying now.
o “ought to” is not as frequent used as ”should”. It is mostly used in writing and the
negative form is rare.
o We use shouldn’t to express that something is not a good idea.
• You shouldn’t buy a new iPhone each year.
• “had/‘d better” is used as a strong warning for someone. It is used to tell people
someone will face negative consequences if they ignore the advice given (the do/don’t
do something).
• You had better not copy in the exam or you’ll fail the subject until June. – (Bad
consequence)