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We use -body, -one, -thing, to refer to people, places and things in a general
way. We write them as one single word, apart from no one, which can be written
as two separate words or with a hyphen (no-one).
someone
used to refer to a single person when you do not know who they are or when it
is not important who they are:
There's someone outside the house.
Everyone
every person: EVERYBODY
Everyone laughed at her joke.
Anyone
used in questions and negatives to mean "a person or people":
I haven't spoken to anyone all day.
No one
no person:
At first, I thought there was no one in the room.
Somebody
one or some person of unspecified or indefinite identity
somebody will come in.
Everybody
every person.
"everybody agrees with his views"
Anybody
anyone.
"there wasn't anybody around"
Nobody
no person; no one.
"nobody was at home"
Something
an object, situation, quality, or action that is not exactly known or stated:
There's something sharp in my shoe.
Everything
All that exists.
You can't blame him for everything.
Nothing
Not any thing: no thing
leaves nothing to the imagination.
Participial adjectives
Participle Adjectives
Some participles (like 'bored' or 'boring') can be used as adjectives. These are
used in a slightly different way from normal adjectives. We usually use the past
participle (ending in -ed) to talk about how someone feels:
I was really bored during the flight (NOT: I was really boring during the
flight).
She's interested in history (NOT: She's really interested in history).
John's frightened of spiders (NOT: John's frightening of spiders).
We usually use the present participle (ending in -ing) to talk about the person,
thing, or situation which has caused the feeling:
Be careful! 'I'm boring' is very different from 'I'm bored'! 'I'm boring' means I
cause other people to be bored. This is not good! Here are some examples of
when one person causes a feeling in another person:
These participle adjectives make their comparative by using 'more' (not -er) and
their superlative by using 'most' (not -est):