Some thing, Anything, Everything – English Grammar Exercises for A2

1  (B) anything

• Why it’s correct: This is a negative sentence containing “didn’t”. To express “not buying a single thing” (zero quantity), we must use “anything”.
• Error Analysis: (A) “something” is a common mistake (it is not used in standard negative sentences). (C) “everything” is incorrect in meaning here.

2  (A) anything

• Why it’s correct: The verb “couldn’t” makes it a negative sentence. “Couldn’t buy anything” emphasizes the absolute lack of items.
• Error Analysis: (B) Basic grammatical error. (C) “couldn’t buy everything” means you bought some things but not all, which contradicts the context of having empty bags.

3  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: This is a negative question (“didn’t get…?”). It asks to confirm if absolutely nothing was obtained.
• Error Analysis: (B) Common grammatical error. (A) Meaning trap.

4  (A) something

• Why it’s correct: This is an affirmative sentence (“wanted to buy”). The speaker wanted to buy an unspecified item for dinner.
• Error Analysis: (B) “anything” is not used in affirmative sentences with this specific meaning. (C) “everything” is illogical (nobody plans to buy all the food in the supermarket for one dinner).

5  (B) anything

• Why it’s correct: This is a standard Yes/No question (“Did you try…?”). We use “anything” to ask about the general existence of an object.
• Error Analysis: (A) Common mistake (“something” is only used in questions that function as offers or requests). (C) Meaning trap.

6  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: The negative verb “couldn’t do” requires “anything” to express total inability (could not do a single thing).
• Error Analysis: (A) Grammatical error. (B) Meaning trap.

7  (A) anything

• Why it’s correct: The negative “don’t have” paired with “anything” emphasizes having absolutely no food.
• Error Analysis: (B) Common mistake. (C) Meaning trap.

8  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: “There isn’t” is a negative structure, which strictly requires “anything”.
• Error Analysis: (B) Classic A2 learner mistake (“isn’t something” is grammatically incorrect). (A) Meaning trap.

9  (C) everything

• Why it’s correct: The meaning is “Mom needed ALL the items on that list”. We use “everything” in an affirmative sentence referring to a whole group.
• Error Analysis: (A) Meaning error (buying just “something” wouldn’t be enough to bake a cake). (B) Grammatical error (do not use “anything” in an affirmative sentence with this meaning).

10  (A) Everything

• Why it’s correct: The speaker is stating that “all items” (everything) in the store looked fresh.
• Error Analysis: (C) “Something” is illogical because the speaker is observing the overall store. (B) “Anything” cannot be used as the subject of an affirmative sentence in this way.

11  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: The negative “can’t cook” goes with “anything” (cannot cook a single thing).
• Error Analysis: (A) Classic grammatical error. (B) Meaning trap.

12  (A) something

• Why it’s correct: Even though there is a question mark, this sentence is an affirmative suggestion/proposal: “we can order an unspecified item”. Therefore, “something” is used.
• Error Analysis: (B) Common mistake because learners see a question mark and automatically choose “anything” without realizing it’s a suggestion. (C) Meaning trap.

13  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: A negative question “Isn’t there…?” asking if there is absolutely nothing left.
• Error Analysis: (A) Grammatical error. (B) Meaning trap.

14  (A) anything

• Why it’s correct: Negative “didn’t see” + anything = did not see a single thing.
• Error Analysis: (B) “didn’t see something” is a severe grammatical error at the A2 level. (C) Meaning trap.

15  (B) Everything

• Why it’s correct: An exclamation of total disaster: “All things” are going wrong today.
• Error Analysis: (C) Not strong enough to express total disappointment. (A) Grammatical error as a subject here.

16  (C) anything

• Why it’s correct: Negative “won’t forget” (will not forget) combined with “anything” expresses a firm promise not to leave a single item behind next time.
• Error Analysis: (B) Basic grammatical error. (A) “won’t forget everything” implies you might forget a few things but not all, which defeats the purpose of the apology.

17  (A) something

• Why it’s correct: Affirmative sentence. Mom has to “figure out” (think of) an unspecified food item to eat.
• Error Analysis: (B) Grammatical error. (C) Meaning trap.

18  (B) everything

• Why it’s correct: A promise to buy “all the things” needed.
• Error Analysis: (C) Meaning error (buying just one unspecified thing doesn’t solve the grocery problem). (A) Grammatically possible in an open context, but “everything we need” is the most natural fit.

19  (B) anything

• Why it’s correct: Negative “can’t buy” + anything. Absolute impossibility since the store is closed.
• Error Analysis: (A) Grammatical error. (C) Meaning trap.

20  (A) everything

• Why it’s correct: An affirmative sentence meant to soothe: A pizza will solve “all problems/things”.
• Error Analysis: (C) Meaning error (solving only “a few things” isn’t a full promise). (B) Grammatical error.

1 ANYTHING in Negative Sentences (The Most Important Rule):

• When the verb is accompanied by not (like didn’t, don’t, doesn’t, can’t, isn’t, aren’t, won’t, etc.), you MUST use anything to indicate complete emptiness (quantity = zero).
• Fatal Mistake: Never use structures like “didn’t + something” or “don’t + something”.
• Example: I didn’t buy anything. (Correct) / I didn’t buy something. (Incorrect).

2 SOMETHING in Affirmative Sentences:

• Use something in positive/affirmative sentences when you refer to an object but don’t know exactly what it is, or don’t need to specify its exact name.
• Example: I wanted to buy something for dinner.

3 EVERYTHING:

• Used to mean “all things” (100% of the items in a group). It acts as a singular pronoun and takes a singular verb.
• Example: Everything goes wrong today.