When to use ‘anyone’ vs. ‘any one’

What does “anyone” mean?

Anyone is an indefinite pronoun that refers to an unspecified person. Here are some examples of how it’s used to refer to a general or unspecified person:

• Did anyone see where the thief ran to?
• Anyone can learn to ride a bicycle, but it takes skill to pop a wheelie.
• She hasn’t been dating because she’s not just looking for anyone, but the one.

Anyone is a synonym of the pronoun anybody, and both can be used interchangeably:

• Is anybody able to help me walk my dog this weekend?
• The volunteers weren’t just looking for anybody, but somebody with experience.
• Anybody can dance, but dancing well takes lessons.

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What does “any one” mean?

Meanwhile, any one is a combination of the indefinite article “any” and the noun ”one.” Together, they imply a singular entity from a group or selection. Here’s how it can be used:

• The magician asked him to pick any one card from the deck.
• I cannot think of any one reason why you should proceed with that plan.
• My mother said I could have any one piece of Halloween candy tonight.

In this phrase, the word “one” can also be replaced by any numerical figure, depending on how many items are being referred to:

• You can pick any two sides to go with your entrée.
• By the end of March, any four teams could possibly make it to the finals.
• Any number of factors could have contributed to the crash.

Anyone and any one: what’s the difference?

While these may seem to be the same, they’re both used differently. If you’re referring to people, use the pronoun anyone. However, if you’re referring to a selection or choice, use any one.

These words are not interchangeable: any one is never used as a pronoun to refer to an individual. One way to use any one when referring to a person is to add a noun after it, such as in the following examples:

• Any one individual has the power to change the world.
• Out of everyone here, any one executive makes more than the rest of the room.
• They only need any one or two players to round out their baseball team.

When you’re writing, your spell checker will automatically recognize whether you’re referring to a pronoun or an amount. Write enough sentences with anyone or any one and the difference will automatically click for you! Check out other writing tips for navigating tricky, similar phrases such as everyday vs. every day, may or might, or lightning vs. lightening.