任何 rènhé — any, whatever, no matter which
rènhé (fourth tone, falling)ren4he2
any, whatever, no matter which
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)pronoun
Meanings
any, whatever, no matter which
Any, in the sense that it does not matter which one — it almost always sits before a noun (任何人, 任何时候, 任何问题) and is most at home in a negative sentence or a strong claim, where it stresses that not a single exception exists.
pronoun
Example sentences
- 任何人都可以做这件事情。任何人都可以做這件事情。Rènhé (fourth tone, falling) rén (second tone, rising) dōu (first tone, high and level) kěyǐ (third tone, dipping) zuò (fourth tone, falling) zhè (fourth tone, falling) jiàn (fourth tone, falling) shìqing. (fourth tone, falling)···
Anyone can do this.
- 我没有告诉任何人这个消息。我沒有告訴任何人這個消息。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) méiyǒu (second tone, rising) gàosu (fourth tone, falling) rènhé (fourth tone, falling) rén (second tone, rising) zhège (fourth tone, falling) xiāoxi. (first tone, high and level)···
I didn’t tell anyone this news.
Common mistakes
Not quite你可以吃任何。
Correct你可以吃任何东西。
任何 is a determiner, not a stand-alone pronoun; it always needs a noun after it (任何东西, 任何人, 任何地方). 什么 is the word that can stand by itself.