[Grammar] Multiple choice option [either/any of them is good]

[sb70012]

A: Which of the two do you recommend?
B: Well ……..of them is good.

a)both
b)either (Answer Key)
c)any
d)none

Hi,

Can option "c" (any) be correct as well? If not then why?

Source: Taken from school exam sheets
Thank you

 

[konungursvia]

It is not correct because the word "any" nowadays has a meaning that evokes a multiplicity of choices and possibilities, always more than two. You could think of it as related to "many" in some ways, although it used to mean "none" about a thousand years ago.

 

[engee30]

sb70012, try remembering that either is normally used with reference to two people or things in constructions of this type; any for more than two.