student asking question

Can I say "someone" instead of "anyone"? If so, are they always interchangeable?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

With this sentence, using "someone" instead of "anyone" is acceptable. However, the words are not always interchangeable. Sometimes "someone" refers to a specific person, whereas you can use "anyone" to refer to numerous possibilities of people. Ex: Someone broke the plates in the dining room! Ex: Has anyone seen my glasses? =>You can replace "anyone' with "someone" here. Ex: Anyone who crosses this line is going to be in trouble.

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