Anywhere vs somewhere [closed]
Which one should I use:
- Are you going somewhere nice on holiday this year?
or
- Are you going anywhere nice on holiday this year?
The presence of the word "nice" bothers me a bit and deters me from using "anywhere".
That's an interesting question.
In a negative polarity context (i.e. a question or negative sentence), any and its compounds (anywhere, anything, anybody) are normally used instead of some etc. But some and its compounds are also possible, with a special meaning.
I think that meaning is specificity.
Did you bring anything?
is a neutral question, but
Did you bring something?
implies that whatever you might have brought is something specific - not necessarily something known to the questioner, but with extra meaning to one or other of the parties.
So
Are you going anywhere nice .. ?
is neutral, but
Are you going somewhere nice .. ?
is suggesting that you (the person being asked) has a special place in mind (not necessarily one that the questioner knows anything about).
The difference is very subtle, though.
Are you going somewhere nice on holiday this year? Using some makes the destination sound 'definite' and 'intended'.
Are you going anywhere nice on holiday this year? Using any makes the destination sound 'completely unknown', 'remote' and (at least a little) 'random'.
I think the difference is a bit subtle and probably for the most part inconsequential, but the use of one or the other is probably more common in certain situations.
Are you going anywhere nice on holiday this year?
This might be asked when the person does not necessarily have anywhere they're going and the other person is asking in general. It's unspecific. A person might reply affirmative or negative in equal measure. A reply of a simple "No" would come off as "No, I'm not going anywhere"
Are you going somewhere nice on holiday this year?
If someone is asked this, it implies they are going somewhere and the person is asking if it's a nice place. A response to this will most likely be affirmative. A reply of a simple "No" would come off more as "No, I'm not going somewhere nice, I'm going somewhere bad"