Wednesday, November 15, 2017

pronouns - Under which conditions can "one" be used to refer to non human entity?



I've heard that one is understood as referring to people if one uses any one as in





Q: Which of these ice cream flavors do you want?
A: Any one.




I understand that any one sounds like anyone, but is that a reason not to use the expression?



What about other uses of one, such as the first one and one of them?


Answer



"One" is used as a pronoun for things and people.




Things:




  • "Please hand me the one on the right."

  • "John wants the same one as all his friends."

  • "Having only one is never enough."



People:





  • "Mary is the one who gave me this cold."

  • "The one on the right is my sister."

  • "Go in one at a time, please."


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