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Question

Yolandaprieto

Question

Can I say in English"Do you have any apples at all?" It doesn �t sound good to me but I think I �ve just heard it to an English speaking girl. I am in a school near Cambridge at the moment with a group of students and I always have doubts about things that doesn �t sound good to me but I am sure people use those words or expressions.

Thanks in advance

My best wishes from rainy England

11 Jul 2012

MoodyMoody

That question would normally be asked in the negative, "Don �t you have any apples at all?" It implies that you expected the other person to have apples and that you are surprised and disappointed that he or she doesn �t.

11 Jul 2012

douglas

Moody is right, but you can also ask it as the English girl did (it is usually used with a large amount of sarcasm and/or frustration/despiration) example:

G: Do you have any Granny Smith Apples?

SK: No, we are out of them.

G: Oh, do you have any green apples of any kind?

SK: No, the are all sold out.

G: Do you have any Goldeb Delicious apples?

SK: Sorry, those are sold out too.

G: Do you have red apples?

SK: No.

G: (very frustrated) Well! Do you have any apples at all?

11 Jul 2012

Jayho

Agree with all of above.

If you have Swan �s Practical English Usage you �ll find an explanation on page 76 (section 83.2).

Cheers

Jayho

11 Jul 2012