What's the difference between "anything" and "everything"? Can I say "anything" in this context?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Anything" and "everything" are both pronouns that are used to refer to something. Though they sound similar, they are two very different words that have different meanings and uses. "Everything" is used to refer to all things that exist. All objects, seen or unseen, are part of everything. So in this clip when she says she wants to "learn the words for everything" it means all things that exist in the world. "Anything", on the other hand, is used to refer to any of the things that are about the subject. It refers to any part of a whole thing, whole entity, or an entire idea. It can either be one, all, or some of the quantity or extent of a thing. So if someone says they want to learn the words to "anything" it sounds as though they are only interested in a specific subject or a specific thing. Since these two words refer to different things, and in phrases and sentences, they are used in a different context. They, therefore, can never be interchanged. Ex: I don’t need anything because I already have everything. Ex: I don’t need everything because I already have anything. => this sentence does not make sense grammatically
