“Anyone” is one word when it means any person. “Any one” is written as two words when the construction refers to a single member of a larger set, including the common pattern “any one of …”.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “anyone” for any person; use “any one” for any single member of a set.
Key details
Confusion Familyword-boundary
Rule Familyword-boundary
Termsany one, anyone
Further guidance
Core difference
“Anyone” is a one-word pronoun meaning any person; “any one” is two words when “one” is a separate noun or pronoun, as in “any one of the options.”
Usage Boundary
Use “anyone” for an unspecified person. Use “any one” when choosing or identifying a single member from a set.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
“Everyone” is one word when it means every person. “Every one” is two words when one is a separate element referring to each individual member of a set, especially in constructions such as “every one of them.”
The standard expression is written “no one,” and Cambridge also records the hyphenated variant “no-one.” The fully closed spelling “noone” is not the accepted form in the cited grammar guidance.
“Someone” is the standard one-word pronoun for an unspecified person. The two-word sequence “some one” is possible when “one” remains a separate word and the construction singles out an individual member of a group, so the forms should not be treated as freely interchangeable.
Standard English writes “a lot” as two words for a large amount, number, frequency, or degree. “Alot” is a common misspelling in this sense; it should not be confused with the separate verb “allot.”
“Any more” can be a determiner for additional quantity and an adverb meaning “no longer.” Cambridge notes that the one-word adverb “anymore” is especially common in American English, while the determiner remains two words.
“Blackout” is the closed noun, while “black out” is the two-word phrasal verb. The verb can describe losing consciousness or obscuring/darkening something; the noun names the resulting event or state.
