Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: aby tea or coffee?

Salve,
   "Vorreste del te o caffč?", I'd say: "Would you like *any* tea or 
coffe?" .. does it sound good? Should I have said *some* in place of 
*any* ??
thanks

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"Would you like a cup of tea/coffee?", per andare sul sicuro. Anche "Would
you like some tea/coffee?" direi, ma preferisco non mettere la mano sul
fuoco.
Bye, FB
-- 
"May I come with you to the station?"
"Please, do. I like to go off in style."
(Cold Comfort Farm, the film)

Se ricordo bene nelle frasi interrogative e in quelle negative si usa 
any..anche se in questa m piace cme suona some...
nn saprei
dav 

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Č una regola che circola, ma č sbrigativa. Pensa a "Is something/anything
wrong?", e, appunto, "Would you like a cup of coffee?".
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Is this Miss Prism a female of repellent aspect, remotely connected with
education?" "She is the most cultivated of ladies, and the very picture of
respectability" "It is obviously the same person".
("The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde)

 *any* ??
Tutt' e due vanno bene.
Would you like tea or coffee?
Would you like some tea or coffee?
Would you like any tea or coffee? 

 Nelle offerte quando ci si aspetta una risposta affermativa si usa some
invece di any, se non sbaglio...

 *any* ??
Io ci metterei "some".
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio
-- 
visita il mio sito: (
http://members.xoom.it/srw
)
_____________________________________
"La maggior parte degli atei sono soltanto dei bigotti ribelli." (Antoine de
Rivarol)

 invece di any, se non sbaglio...
Ho sentito "any" in contesti aziendali. In una casa privata mi 
suonerebbe un po' insolito, magari.

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Sbaglio, o con "any" colui che offre indaga un eventuale, ma non manifesto,
desiderio o bisogno? Cioč, se chiedo "Would you like any tea or coffee?",
non do affatto per scontato che colui cui lo chiedo abbia sete, mentre se
chiedo "Would ... some tea ... ?" la mia č piů chiaramente un'offerta.
Sbaglio?
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Something to take to the country." (holding out a bunch of flowers)
"Flowers come _from_ the country, Charles."


 Sbaglio?
Credo di essere d'accordo. Il contesto piu' plausibile per "any" e':
Io parlo col gestore della mensa (che fa anche pranzi per rinunioni
ecc.).
Adam: I've booked a customer meeting in room 12. Can I have
sandwiches for 6 people at 11:45, please?
Catering manager: Sure. Would you like any tea or coffee with that?
Adam: Oh, yes please. One large jug of each please, with milk,
sugar, and one dish of those herbal teabags and some hot water.

invece di any, se non sbaglio...
=
"Some is used in situations where the question is not a request for
information, but a method of making a request, encouraging or giving an
invitation:
Could I have some books, please?
Why don't you take some books home with you?
Would you like some books? "
v.:
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/Determiners7c.cfm
ciao

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:dontmewithme-C97B...@twister2.tin.it...
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"some" si usa nelle interrogative solo se si tratta di un'offerta - quindi,
oltre a "a cup of.." č meglio dire, in questo caso, "some" invece che "any".
Alcuni libri di grammatica dicono che "some" si usa nelle interrogative in
"si pensa/si spera che la risposta sia si", oppure quando "gli oggetti
richiesti sono in vista".
Ad esempio, da un fruttivendolo vedo delle mele e gli chiedo:
"Can I have some apples?"
se invece non le vedessi, direi "do you have any apples?"
A tavola, dove tutto č in vista, potrei dire:
"do you want some potatoes?"
oppure
"can I have some potatoes?"
un cameriere in un ristorante forse direbbe:
"do you want any coffee with that?"
mentre se ho ospite un amico, forse gli direi:
"do you want some coffee with that?"
dato che in questo secondo caso č un'offerta e non una semplice domanda.
Tang

 Would you like any tea or coffee?
I'd definitely go for the first one, though in an informal context I'd point
the two
cups simply saying "Tea or coffee?".

"Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid> wrote in message
news:IxLhe.99327$IN.16...@twister2.libero.it...
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I  agree. "Any" doesn't fit here.
Joe from Massachusetts

> I  agree. "Any" doesn't fit here.
I would characterize it as less desireable than using 'some' but you're 
misleading readers by saying it doesn't fit. It's common usage in a
variety of contexts.

 wrote in
message news:AKRhe.269$Uv2...@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
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I don't think we were talking about a variety of contexts, only about
the three phrases in question:
Would you like tea or coffee?
Would you like some tea or coffee?
Would you like any tea or coffee?
Google shows 1320 hits for "would you like tea or coffee", 195 hits
for "would you like some tea or coffee" and 4 hits for "would you like
any tea or coffee",  and the general rules for these quantifiers
suggest a preference for some over any in this specific case.
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/DETERMINERS7c.cfm
Joe from Massachusetts

 
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/DETERMINERS7c.cfm
Now that you've adjusted your "doesn't fit" to "preference for some" we are 
in accord. I'm not surprised that 'would you like tea or coffee' is the most 
frequent Google string of the group. It's the expression that came first to 
my mind and that's why I suggested it. 

 wrote in
message news:3EUhe.432$Uv2...@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...

If said with the right tone of voice, as Francesco.b mentioned, "Tea
or coffee?" (or "Coffee or tea?") might be even better.
"Would you like some coffee or tea?"  383 hits on Google.
"Would you like any coffee or tea?"          3 hits on Google.
"Doesn't fit", however inaccurate,  is much more polite than "Is
incorrect". "Suggest a preference" is an understatement. I was
attempting to politely dismiss "any", and trying to point out where
the supporting rules could be found, but I would not want to mislead
Italian speakers into thinking that "any" was at all acceptable in
this case, as a casual glance at the rules, and common usage, would
show, without question.
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/DETERMINERS7c.cfm
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-determiners-some-any.htm
<<However, when we expect a positive reply or when we are offering or
asking for something, we use some instead of any: Would you like some
coffee?<<
http://www.polseguera.com/freegrammar/articles.htm
<<The words some, somebody, someone, something and somewhere are used
in affirmative statements, as well as in polite questions and
questions expecting an affirmative reply.
Polite Question: Would you like some tea?<<
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch20.html#5
Joe from Massachusetts

 incorrect". "Suggest a preference" is an understatement.
So now you're going back to saying it's actually "incorrect?" Look, I'm not 
going to get in a pissing match with you on this. It's ironic that you're so 
invested in "being right" on this given how many times I've seen you post 
suggestions on colloquial expressions that are such a stretch I would never 
allow them. And no, I'm not going to waste my time looking them up to 
document them for you. I'll leave it to readers to listen to how the English 
language is spoken and note that "any" is sometimes used in such sentences 
in casual conversation. My suggestion is to say "would you like tea...". Or 
you can say "would you like some tea...". And if you say "would you like any 
tea..." don't expect anyone to look at you strangely. Of course you can also 
say "tea or coffee?" by itself. It's not a complete sentence but it's 
perfectly acceptable in conversation.


Consider this. We are in a nice restaurant. It is ten minutes before
closing time. The bus boys are cleaning the tables. The coffee pot is
empty. There are still two customers in the restaurant, one known to
be grumpy and a poor tipper, the other a friendly regular customer who
tips fairly.
The waiter approaches the poor tipper, noticing he has finished
eating.
"Do you want any coffee?".  Implicit: "I hope you don't want any
coffee, because it's almost closing time, the coffee pot is empty, and
no matter how many trips I make to your table, I won't get a better
tip".
The waiter then approaches the fair tipper, who has also just finished
his meal.
"Would you like some coffee?". Implicit: "If you want some of our nice
hot coffee, I'll bring you a cup, even if it is almost closing time
and the coffee pot is empty, and I'll have to make another pot just
for you".
Or, if I am at home having breakfast, and I go to get another cup of
coffee, but notice that there is only enough left in the pot for one
cup, I might say to my wife, "Do you want any coffee?". Implicit: "I
hope you don't want any coffee, because there's only one cup left,
which I want for myself, and I don't feel like making another pot."
I could also say "Would you like some coffee?". Implicit: "If you want
some of this nice hot coffee, take it, even if it is the last cup, and
I'll wait for mine while a new pot is brewing".
In my opinion, "would" and "some" go to together with deference,
politeness, and perhaps even encouragement. I think this difference in
usage between "some" and "any" is one of the subtleties of the English
language, which I think is borne out by common usage and the opinions
of those who make it their business to study and classify such
matters.
Joe from Massachusetts

 matters.
I agree, for what it's worth. I think it's even more evident with "Is
anything wrong?" vs "Is something wrong?".
Bye, FB
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 anything wrong?" vs "Is something wrong?".
As I've maintained, I also agree that 'some' is preferable to 'any' in the
examples given. However, that doesn't change the reality of usage or make
'any' incorrect. In regard to your example, as much as you'd like speakers
to attend to subtle differences in connotation, many people use these terms
interchangebly. To say that either 'any' or 'anything' is incorrect as
opposed to less preferable is foolish given the widespread colloquial use by
educated users. That, of course, doesn't preclude you from choosing to use
the preferred term in your own speech.