The use of "is there any"
Hello,
How to use "is there any...." properly? For example, is this correct?
"is there any coffe in your house?"
"Is there any books in your room?"
The use of "any", is it a must? If it is not a must, in what condition I have to use it?
Thank you.
"Is" is a singular form, so it can't be used with a plural subject such as "books". Also, "must" is a verb, not a noun. It's used informally as a noun, but it's not clear what you mean here.
Sorry,
What I want to ask is about how to use the phrase "is there any...." If the example is not correct, meaning that I can not use "is there any...." properly.
So, how to use it properly?
<Also, "must" is a verb, not a noun. It's used informally as a noun, but it's not clear what you mean here. >
Where did you get the idea that "a must" is informal, Another Guest. You're wrong.
Ok, may be I should give you an example like this. Can I say something like:
"Is there any coffee in your house?"
If the above sentence is not correct, how to correct it? Also, I want to ask about the use of "any" in the above sentence. Without "any", is it still commonly used in English?
Thank you.
Yes, you can use any with "Is there any coffee in your house?"
Coffee is a singular noun - if you want to use it with a plural noun, you would have to say:
"Are there any books in your room?" - because 'are' is the plural of 'is'.
You only say this in a question; in the answer, or a statement, you would use the word 'some' instead of 'any', like:
"There is some coffee in my house"
Or
"There are some books in my room" - "some" does not change for the plural.
Don't worry, your use of 'a must' in the above text is perfectly correct and understandable, I'm a native speaker :)
The above sentence is correct. Without "any", it would still be correct, but with a slightly different tone. It would be unusual for someone to ask "Is there coffee in your house?" but they might ask "Is there a reason you're asking?"
As for "must" as a noun, it's obviously a shortening of the phrase "a thing that we must do". Like "a must have" or "a have-to", it's an elliptical phrase and therefore informal.
Thank you for your explanation, Caspian.