Usage note:The pronoun
anybody is always written as one word:
Is anybody home? There isn't anybody in the office. The two-word noun phrase
any body means “any group” (
Any body of students will include a few dissidents) or “any physical body”:
The search continued for a week despite the failure to find any body. If the word
a can be substituted for
any without seriously affecting the meaning, the two-word noun phrase is called for:
a body of students; failure to find a body. If the substitution cannot be made, the spelling is
anybody. Anybody is less formal than
anyone. See also anyone, each, they.