May 20 2010
“Any” Authoring Errors in the English Langauge
Anys…
As document authors, these little text particles often give us a hard time, whether it is for writing reports, original documents or translating into another language. Let’s have a look at the most common “any” errors:
- “Anytime” VS “Any time”
The word “anytime” is often compressed into a single word by analogy with “anything” and similar words.
Writing tip: Think of “anytime” as a contraction of “at any time”. It will become easier to know when to use one, or the other.
- “Anyway” VS “Any way”
Anyway is an adverb meaning regardless. Any way is just the word way modified by the word any, meaning “any manner”.
Writing tip: Try to replace it by in any case. If it fits, use anyway. If not, use the two words.
- “Anymore” VS “Any more”
“Anymore” should be used when you mean “does no longer”. Ex: I don’t live here anymore.
“Any more” should be used when the words “any” and “more” can be used separately in a sentence. Ex: I can’t eat any more cheesecake.
