AmE: Is there any apple in the bag?
Marius Hancu
1. Is there any apple in the bag?
(say if you were asking for an apple from a bag of mixed fruits)
Is this acceptable? I mean the singular.
Please vote, so I would have some basis for a statistical
estimation:-)
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
James Hogg
I vote No.
--
James
bert
No. "Is there an apple?", or "Are there
any apples?", but not what you've written.
--
Cheryl
I vote no.
I would say 'Is there an apple in the bag?' The singular is fine, but if
I wanted to use 'any' I would not use the singular. I would say 'Are
there any apples in the bag?'
--
Cheryl
Eric Walker
If the reference is simply to ordinary apples, then no vote is needed:
the sentence is wrong and needs the plural (both noun and verb).
For such a construction to be possible, apple would have to be in some
way a mass (uncountable) noun--or rather, an adjective used as a noun as
shorthand for "apple-flavored X", where X is some noun normally
uncountable. An example would be something like a bag full of teabags
for variously different-flavored teas--then one could ask "Is there any
apple [meaning apple-flavored tea] in the bag?" because tea is a mass
noun.
But if that sentence clearly referred to the individual teabags, then
again plurals would be needed:
We bought all kinds of flavored teabags.
*Are* there any apple *ones* in the bag?
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker, Owlcroft House
http://owlcroft.com/english/
John Dean
If the mixed fruits are whole then no - has to be "Is there an apple ...?"
or "Are there any apples ...?"
But if the mixture is chopped and sliced fruits then it's perfectly OK.
--
John Dean
Oxford
CDB
contained edibles of various flavours, potentially including apple, or
even pieces of dried fruit; but I would consider it unidiomatic, if
you were referring to whole apples. (*N*AmE here)
franzi
goes.
"One of the advantages of living in Great Court, Trinity, I seem to
recall, was the fact that one could pop across at any time of the day
or night and trap the then young G.E. Moore into a logical falsehood
by means of a cunning semantic subterfuge. I recall one occasion with
particular vividness. I had popped across and had knocked upon his
door. ‘Come in’, he said. I decided to wait awhile in order to test
the validity of his proposition. ‘Come in’, he said once again. ‘Very
well’, I replied, ‘if that is in fact truly what you wish’.
"I opened the door accordingly and went in, and there was Moore seated
by the fire with a basket upon his knees. ‘Moore’, I said, ‘do you
have any apples in that basket?’ ‘No’, he replied, and smiled
seraphically, as was his wont. I decided to try a different logical
tack. ‘Moore’, I said, ‘do you then have some apples in that basket?’
‘No’, he replied, leaving me in a logical cleft stick from which I had
but one way out. ‘Moore’, I said, ‘do you then have apples in that
basket?’ ‘Yes’, he replied. And from that day forth, we remained the
very closest of friends."
Not a single apple there.
--
franzi
Don Phillipson
news:890a05bf-a13f-4ecf...@a32g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
> In AmE:
>
> 1. Is there any apple in the bag?
>
> (say if you were asking for an apple from a bag of mixed fruits)
>
> Is this acceptable? I mean the singular.
Ans. = No. Idiomatic variants are:
-- Is there an apple (sing.) in the bag?
-- Are there apples (pl.) in the bag?
Poorly educated people also often say
-- Is (sing.) there apples (pl.) in the bag?
British and American usage appear to be the same.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Pablo
> Eric Walker wrote:
>
>>For such a construction to be possible, apple would have to be in some
>>way a mass (uncountable) noun--or rather, an adjective used as a noun as
>>shorthand for "apple-flavored X", where X is some noun normally
>>uncountable. An example would be something like a bag full of teabags
>>for variously different-flavored teas--then one could ask "Is there any
>>apple [meaning apple-flavored tea] in the bag?" because tea is a mass
>>noun.
>
> Similarly, "is there any apple in this stew" (perhaps because the
> speaker dislikes the taste) would be a standard BrE usage.
But it should be remembered that the "any" is superfluous. With the "any"
it sounds to me like the person is looking for apple. "Is there any curry
powder left?"
--
Pablo
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
John Dean has my proxy vote to cast as he sees fit.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Pat Durkin
news:890a05bf-a13f-4ecf...@a32g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
No.
As bert and Cheryl and most others have said:
Are there (any) apples in the bag?
Mike Casey
Which are you referring to, the strong or weak form of "any"? Also, is
"apple" in your example a single fruit, or is it a substance?
"You've got an apple on your shirt." (Probably a design or similar.)
"You've got apple on your shirt." (You'd probably need to get it
washed.)
Roland Hutchinson
Surely you mean, "no single apple".
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
Robert Bannister
I tentatively vote Yes, but I'd prefer it to be something like "in the
mixture" rather than "in the bag".
I am, of course, assuming that bag contains a mixture of dried fruit,
nuts and possibly chocolate. If, however, it is referring to whole
fruit, then I'll vote No.
--
Rob Bannister
Marius Hancu
> James Hogg wrote:
> >> 1. Is there any apple in the bag?
>
> >> (say if you were asking for an apple from a bag of mixed fruits)
>
> >> Is this acceptable? I mean the singular.
>
> >> Please vote, so I would have some basis for a statistical
> >> estimation:-)
>
> > I vote No.
>
> I tentatively vote Yes, but I'd prefer it to be something like "in the
> mixture" rather than "in the bag".
>
> I am, of course, assuming that bag contains a mixture of dried fruit,
> nuts and possibly chocolate. If, however, it is referring to whole
> fruit, then I'll vote No.
The overall results concord with my expectations.
Thank you all.
Marius Hancu
franzi
wrote:
version. If Russell had asked "Moore, do you have a single apple in
that basket?", Moore could still have replied "No."
We can happily say that there wasn't a single apple in the box when
there was no apple in the box, and we wouldn't usually say it when
there were two or more apples together in the box, even though it
would be true in a literal sense. If we said there was no single apple
in the box, we would be edging more explicitly towards the literal. I
wanted to stay ambiguous, and lend Moore support.
--
franzi
Athel Cornish-Bowden
I agree. I vote Yes but....
--
athel