Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[river1974]

Dear teachers:

(a) He is a man who says yes to anything.(b) He is a man who says yes to everything.
Which one is more natural? Thanks.

[cgage2]

The difference here is very subtle. "Anything" could refer to a selective choice that included all possibilities. "Everything" means what it says: everything.

[2006]

The difference is subtle but "everything" sounds better to me. The sentence describes a man who has already shown that he says yes to everything he is asked.

In the following sentence, which makes a prediction, I would use "anything". I think he is a man who would say yes to anything.