Somebody, anybody, everybody and nobody 不定人稱代詞

Audio: Somebody, anybody, everybody and nobody 不定人稱代詞

A Q&A programme about the difference between the words 'somebody', 'anybody', 'everybody' and 'nobody'.

"I have a question about the use of indefinite pronouns such as anybody/anyone, somebody/someone, everybody/everyone, nobody/no one. I cannot tell them apart. How can I use them correctly? Thank you!"

Liu Ying

I have never met you in person, but I am sure you are someone who is interested in listening to our programmes. Anybody who has a question about the English language can send it to us anytime. Our email address is questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

If nobody is available to take up your question immediately, don't assume that no one is interested. As a matter of fact, everyone is interested but we have to take turns, so trust me: somebody in the team will take up your question so that almost everyone's question gets answered, sooner or later.

Have you noticed the repeated use of the indefinite pronouns? That's because Yang Li is attempting to address Liu Ying's question. There is a very funny story in the lesson too, so click to listen and enjoy.

If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can write to us 按鍵 @BBC英倫網英語教學 or email: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk