Either vs Anyone - What's the difference?
either | anyone |
Each of two.
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
* 1936 , (Djuna Barnes), (Nightwood) , Faber & Faber 2007, page 31:
One or the other of two.
* {{quote-news, passage=You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a gentile.
, quotee=(Jackie Mason), year=2006, date=December 5, work=USA Today
, title= (coordinating)
* {{quote-book, year=1893, author=(Walter Besant), title=
, passage=Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language
(obsolete) Both, each of two or more.
* , Bk.VII:
* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
* , III.i:
* (1809-1894)
One or other of two people or things.
* 2013 , Daniel Taylor,
As well.
* {{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
, passage=But Richmond
Introduces the first of two options, the second of which is introduced by "or".
Any person; anybody.
* (George Bernard Shaw)
*{{quote-book, year=1935, author=
, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=8
, passage= “[…] Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm straight, but this time I had six thousand quid at stake. […] I laid 'em long odds because it wasn't in the nature of things that Wynbolt could beat all of them champs. Then—then he smashed one after another, until I got windy—nervous as you might say. […]”}}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title=
As pronouns the difference between either and anyone
is that either is both, each of two or more while anyone is any person; anybody.As a determiner either
is each of two.As an adverb either
is as well.As a conjunction either
is introduces the first of two options, the second of which is introduced by "or".either
English
Usage notes
In the UK the first pronunciation is generally used more in southern England, while the latter is more usual in northern England. However, this is an oversimplification, and the pronunciation used varies by individual speaker and sometimes by situation. The second pronunciation is the most common in the United States.Determiner
(en determiner)- His flowing hair / In curls on either cheek played.
- Her hands, long and beautiful, lay on either side of her face.
Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus}}
The Ivory Gate, chapter=Prologue
Synonyms
* (one or the other) * (each of two) both, eachPronoun
(English Pronouns)- Than ayther departed to theire tentis and made hem redy to horsebacke as they thought beste.
- Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.
- And either vowd with all their power and wit, / To let not others honour be defaste.
- There have been three talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.
Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban, The Guardian, 6 September:
- Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee.
Adverb
(-)Usage notes
either is sometimes used, especially in North American English, where neither would be more traditionally accurate: "I'm not hungry." "Me either."Synonyms
* neither * tooConjunction
(English Conjunctions)- Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room.
Usage notes
* When there are more than two alternatives, "any" is used instead.See also
* neither * nor * orStatistics
*anyone
English
Alternative forms
* any onePronoun
(English Pronouns)- The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
George Goodchild
Fantasy of navigation, passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].}}