Is there an apple store in hungary

But what happens in here?

1) Is there any apple in the basket? (wrong if it means ONE APPLE)
2) Is there an apple in the basket? (OK)

Why is it that ANY in sentence 1 is not supposed to be used? Is it because APPLE can be uncountable as well?

owlman5

Senior Member

Ivan_I

Banned

Hello owlman5! Thank you for your answer. Unfortunately this time I haven’t managed to put it clear enough, this is why I think you missed the point of the question.

1) A plural form of nouns is out of scope in my question a priori. Hence, we are not to consider «apples» here at all.
2) Do you agree that 1 is wrong while 2 is ok if only one apple is implied?
3) I know «Is there an apple» doesn’t sound very idiomatic, but it’s correct in terms of grammar rules.

entangledbank

Senior Member

Ivan_I

Banned

RM1(SS)

Senior Member

Yes, but some has a different meaning in that sentence.

There is some man in the room. — There is a man in the room, but I don’t know who he is and didn’t care enough to find out.

PaulQ

Senior Member

Yes but this would mean There is a man in my room and I have no idea who he is, he could be anyone.

‘Some’ is operates in the same way that entangledbank gave for ‘any.»

As RMS has said, some (like any) has different meanings.

pob14

Senior Member

Hello owlman5! Thank you for your answer. Unfortunately this time I haven’t managed to put it clear enough, this is why I think you missed the point of the question.

1) A plural form of nouns is out of scope in my question a priori. Hence, we are not to consider «apples» here at all.

Ivan_I

Banned

Ivan_I

Banned

Yes, but some has a different meaning in that sentence.

There is some man in the room. — There is a man in the room, but I don’t know who he is and didn’t care enough to find out.

Why then can’t SOME have that meaning which you call «a different meaning» in the case with «apple»? I fail to follow the logic.

There is some apple in the basket. — IS WRONG
There is some man in the room. — IS OK

pob14

Senior Member

Because we don’t typically think of apples as unique individuals, as we do with people.

«Where’s Fred, my favorite apple?»
«Well, there’s some apple or other in the basket, but I don’t know if it’s Fred or not.»

Also, if apples were crushed or diced in preparation for making applesauce, this could work:

«I need a half cup of crushed apple for this recipe. Is there any apple left in the basket?»
«Yes, there’s some apple in the basket.»

Ivan_I

Banned

Would this one work?
There is some car in the street.

PS: By the way, does SOME really imply uniqueness?

pob14

Senior Member

I think it would be considerably less common than «there is a car in the street,» unless there was some reason to wonder about its identity:

«Hey, Ivan, there’s some car in your reserved parking spot.» This would suggest that I believe it’s not your car, but I don’t know whose it is.

Ivan_I

Banned

I think it would be considerably less common than «there is a car in the street,» unless there was some reason to wonder about its identity:

«Hey, Ivan, there’s some car in your reserved parking spot.» This would suggest that I believe it’s not your car, but I don’t know whose it is.

That’s what I am talking about. You see, in post 4 is said rather categorically by entangledbank’s that
There is some apple in the basket.
But later it turns out that it’s OK to say

There is some man in the room.
and the following can be OK too
There is some car in the street.

entangledbank

Senior Member

Ivan_I

Banned

Can it be the case

any — one of a certain group

— Five apples have just fallen off the tree and one of them fell in the basket. Which one of them is in th basket?
— There is any apple in the basket. (There can be any apple. )

a — just one (without a group)
There is an apple in the basket.

Myridon

Senior Member

Ivan_I

Banned

Myridon

Senior Member

PaulQ

Senior Member

1.
A: — Pass me a hammer.
B:- Which hammer, I have three hammers
A: — Any hammer -> it doesn’t matter which hammer -> one hammer from amongst many hammers. -> a random hammer.

2.
A: I saw a man with blue hair today.
B: Which man?
A: I don’t know, some man. -> it doesn’t matter which man -> one man from amongst many men. -> a random man.

3.
A: What sort of fruit do you have?
B: Grapes, oranges, pears…
A: do you have any apples -> a random quantity of apples

4.
A: What have you in your bag?
B: Apples… [opens bag] take one.
A: Can I take any apple? -> a random apple of my choice.
B: Yes, any – they’re all much the same.

5.
A: Any man can lift this weight. -> a random man.

Ivan_I

Banned

Ivan_I

Banned

I have come across new context where «ANY» fits in.

1) «Is there a red car in the street?»
«No.»
«A blue car?»
«No.»
«A green one?»
«No.»
«Is there any car in the street?»
«Yes, there’s a yellow one.»

I hope you agree that «Is there any car in the street?» is OK here?

2) Now what is the difference between these two