Anymore or any more?: Anymore = nowadays, these days?

[mplsray]

Wow,it's too complex.So,is there any difference between1&2:
1. I don't need your help anymore
2. I don't need your help any more

Only a difference in which branch of the English language it would be likely to be found—anymore is more likely to be found in American English—not any difference in meaning.

 

[wandle]

1. I don't need your help anymore

As mentioned above, I consider this a mistake. My advice is always to avoid it. That makes things very simple (see post 45).

 

[davidcnn]

I beleive it,from pure grammar point of view,both "don't" and "anymore" are negative sentence,double negative might be wrong I think.

 

[wandle]

I beleive it,from pure grammar point of view,both "don't" and "anymore" are negative sentence,double negative might be wrong I think.

That is a different question. The thread is about the difference between 'any more' and 'anymore' .

 

[Aidanr444]

I'd like to comment about my own (snobbish?) perception about the use of anymore in the UK.
Since the spellchecker in the most ubiquitous word processing program prefers the one-word version, any use of the two word version gets flagged with a style warning (blue underline).
To get rid of this warning, the user has to accept the preferred one-word version.

So, when I see the single-word version used, my assumption is that the writer lacks the confidence to ignore the spellchecker.

 

[wandle]

I hope that usage will not come to be imposed by default through a software program.

 

[JulianStuart]

It would appear that this dichotomy is as entrenched as -ise and -ize regarding AmE and BrE. Not all BrE speakers use " -ise" endings but all AmE speakers use "-ize" endings for words like "Americanize". Conversely, not all AmE speakers accept anymore while all BrE speakers reject the one word version. That's normal for many AmE vs BrE differences and "correctness" simply needs a tag identifying which version is being described.

I read the comment above about software and thought to myself "Just change the languge in preferences" but, nooooo. It is a Microsoft product and things aren't always that easy - my search led me to some frustrated writers for whom the problem would not go away. As it turns out, the solution is not intuitive

From microsoft.answers.com comes the following "information"

Note that language is not a setting or preference in Word, but rather a text attribute, just like bold, font and color. Therefore, you don't choose the working language, you need to apply it to the selected text.

The link has some more information but that is the conceptual leap needed for making progress.

 

[Silver]

As far as I understand, "any more" deals with quantity, whereas "anymore" deals with time or chronology.

Hi,

I still have a new question, even though I spent 2 hours reading this thread yesterday.

Context:

I was eating cherries and I ate them all, but my little cousin wanted some. I then said:

a)I don't have anymore.
b)I don't have any more cherries.

I know that "any more+n(plural)" is a "rule" here. I guess b) is perfect. I wonder if a) is fine.

Thoughts:

"Anymore" in b) is an adverb, it modifies have, so I think it works. I also read some AE speakers' comments here, I still think it's right. But "anymore" means "any longer", this discourages me a bit. I need your confrimation.

Thanks a lot

 

[JulianStuart]

In the case where the "more" refers to something like cherries, always use the two word version, even if you omit the word cherries.
I don't have any more (cherries).


This thread has been discussing the use of more meaning any longer or nowadays. I don't have those cherries any more. (I gave them to my friend). In AE it is acceptable to some speakers to use anymore, while it is never acceptable to BE speakers.

 

[Silver]

Thanks a lot. JS.

1) I don't have anymore.
This doesn't work in my context?

2) I don't have those cherries any more.

This does work?

How about:

I don't have those cherries anymore.

 

[JulianStuart]

Thanks a lot. JS.

1) I don't have anymore.
This doesn't work in my context?

2) I don't have those cherries any more.

This does work?

How about:

I don't have those cherries anymore.

1) See post #59 (i.e. NO)
Neither of the 2nd / 3rd examples uses "more" to modify cherries. The rest of the thread shows that "anymore" is used by some AE speakers but by no (or few) BE speakers.

 

[JustKate]

I am not a frequent anymore user, but allow me to clarify AmE usage as best I understand it. When talking about quantity, as in the cherries example, it should always be two words: "I don't have any more." The one-word version, if it is used, is used in reference to time: "He doesn't come here anymore" or (and this is very common in parts of the Midwest) "Anymore, I don't see him around much." I am not sure the last could be considered "standard English" (I never heard it until I moved to Indiana), but it is quite common in some parts of the U.S., including the part I now live in.

 

[Parla]

Actually, the single adverb anymore is standard AE (confirmed by such sources as Bryan Garner and the American Heritage dictionary). It's typically used in negative sentences, it refers to time, and it's equivalent to "any longer" or "still":
I don't have those cherries anymore. (I had them earlier; I don't have them now.) She doesn't live there anymore. (She did live there; she doesn't live there now.)

The two-word phrase any more, also typically used in negatives, refers to quantity:
I don't want any more tea, thank you. (I've had enough.) I don't have any more cherries. (I had a quantity of them, but they're all gone.)

P.S.: Another, limited use of the single word anymore, which is heard in some parts of the US Midwest, is not standard and is considered dialect. It's used to mean "nowadays" (as in "prices are high anymore"). That's the usage Kate mentioned in post #62 in her "don't see him around" example.

 

[Silver]

Thanks a lot, JK and Parla, for your helpful answers.