Combination of similar pronouns (indefinite)


Are there any significant differences in meaning or usage between "everyone" and "everybody", or "anybody" and "anyone"?


As far as I know, there are some grammatical points involving "everyone" and "everybody", or "anybody" and "anyone", but books/internet/professors cannot identify any differences of meaning or usage between these two pronouns.



Answer



In ‘The Cambridge Guide to English Usage’, Pam Peters reports that, while both forms are in regular use in the UK and the US, the forms with -one are more frequent. The forms with –body are most commonly found in conversation and used more freely in American than British fiction.


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