Is the correct expression…
I can’t take it anymore? Or… I can’t take it any more?
If you chose the former, you are correct. Although the only difference in spelling is an extra space, anymore and any more are used in different context. Then what is the difference between the two?
Anymore: any longer; used to describe a duration of time
Any more: any additional; used to describe quantities of a noun
Anymore is used when referring to a duration of time. If you can’t take it anymore, it means you cannot endure the situation any longer. You are not able to tolerate it for a longer time than you have already spent.
Any more is used when referring to a quantity of a noun. Suppose you are on a farm picking apples, but your arm starts to hurt from exhaustion. You could say that you cannot pick any more apples. That means you are not able to pick any additional apples in extension of the ones you have already picked. The number of apples on a tree is a countable quantity.
Example sentences
Raymond did not want to run competitively anymore.
In this example, the subject of the sentence Raymond did not want to run competitively any longer. We use anymore here instead of any more because we are talking about a duration of time; Raymond did not want to spend more time running competitively.
Winona could not eat any more pie because she was too full.
In above sentence, Winona was unable to eat any additional pieces of pie because she was too full. Because the sentence is referring to the quantity of pie instead of a duration of time, we use any more here.
Timothy did not have any more space on his computer to store his photos.
Here, Timothy does not have any additional storage space on his computer to save his photos on. We are talking about the quantity of storage space on his computer, so we use any more instead of anymore. Any more applies to both discrete quantities, like apples, and continuous quantities, like liquids and computer storage.
Now that he got what he wanted, Tate did not whine anymore.
We use anymore here because Tate is not going to continue whining in the near future, which is directly referring to the span of time.
Jesse did not solve any more math questions than his sister did.
Jesse did not solve a greater quantity of math questions than his sister did. Thus, we use any more, which is used with quantities, over anymore.
Do you have any more time to look over my paper?
This is a tricky one. Although we are talking about time, we are asking if the listener of the question has any more units of time, like minutes or hours. Notice how the previous examples with anymore usually had anymore at the end. This is because anymore is an adverb used to describe a verb. Meanwhile any more is a determiner typically followed directly by the noun being counted, whether it is pie, storage space, or math questions. Even if the noun being counted is omitted, it is being implied: Do you have any more (apples)?
Practice questions;
- He doesn’t eat cheese anymore/any more.
- The boxer couldn’t not fight anymore/any more because of his injury from the car accident.
- Does the teacher have anymore/any more handouts for the back of the class?
- I cannot possibly drink anymore/any more water right now.
- She does not have anymore/any more time tonight to play with her daughter.
- Dad used to give out free lollipops to kids, but now, he doesn’t have anymore/any more.
- After the war, the veteran didn’t have anymore/any more willpower to interact with people anymore/any more.
- It might be hard to accept at first, but Grandma is not with us anymore/any more.
- I won’t attend college anymore/any more, and instead, I’ll join the army.
- We do not have anymore/any more space in the house to put up a Christmas tree.
Answers:
- anymore
- anymore
- any more
- any more
- any more
- any more
- any more, anymore
- anymore
- anymore
- any more
Are you still struggling to understand the differences between using any more and anymore? Then please go through the Engram to check your sentences. And if you have more questions about English Grammar, you can use Engram's LinkedIn asking questions!
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