“No, he’s not here any longer." ("any more" is not correct)
This was said by Bigote , is this a fact?
“No, he’s not here any longer." ("any more" is not correct although a lot o people say it that way
Could you please let me know why this should not be correct? Any grammar page to support this ?
10 Answers
Hola a todos. Been very busy these days, so not a lot of time to post. However, language, not just foreign, is something I like very much.
I'm 57 years old, and my education has included a LOT of English. Ever since I started school, "any more" has been a perfectly correct phrase. Perhaps at one time it was not considered so, but it has been for at least the half century+ that I've been alive, at least in the U.S. I don't know about "anymore." I've often seen it written that way, but I've never really thought about it as correct or incorrect.
Language is constantly changing, and this may have been one of those times. There was a very interesting interview I heard of a well-known linguist. His point was just that - language has to grow and change, or it dies. It's about communicating ideas. Correct grammar is important, but but it's not everything.
I found very interesting.one example he gave. They played a clip from a couple of crime movies from the 40's or 50's. In it, they referred to the man they thought committed the crime as the "suh-SPECT." Of course now we pronounce the noun of the word as "SUH-spect' and the verb form as "suh-SPECT."
That's my dos centavos.
Have a great day everyone!!
As a speaker of American English, he is not here any more sounds perfectly natural to me. My spell checker wants to make it anymore. I am not an English grammar expert, details such as the presence or absence of a space are lost on me.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/any-more-or-anymore
Any more as an adverb
Any more is also an adverb and has the meaning of ‘no longer’ or ‘in the past but not now.’ In this meaning, we use it in end position:
We don’t go to Cornwall on holiday any more. (We used to go in the past but not now.) The cost of electricity is not cheap any more.
Especially in American English, any more, as an adverb, can be written as one word, anymore:
He doesn’t cycle anymore.
From my Oxford dictionary.
She doesn’t live here anymore. / Ya no vive aquí.
She doesn’t live here any more. / Ya no vive aquí.
Both are adverbs.
Hello!
These two links might be pertinent to this subject.
Hope this helps.
Regards!
UPDATE: Here's more from the British English section of Cambridge.
Any more is two words in British English, whilst anymore is one word in American English.
There are many style sheets and grammar references that specify that "any more" refers to quantity and "anymore" to time.
Examples:
The soup does not need any more salt.
Camping isn't allowed here anymore.
A couple of online references:
writingexplained
"Love Don't Live Here Anymore"
"You abandoned me Love don't live here anymore Just a vacancy Love don't live here anymore..."
- Rose Royce
“Bah… bah..”, Don Bigote replies sheepishly. It seems that “any more” and “anymore” can be used with the same meaning of “any longer”. “Any Moor” is quite different. I distinctly remember my (our) teacher in elementary school teaching us that “any more” is not synonymous with “anymore”. She also taught us about “its” and “it’s”. It seems that she did not teach us correctly or that times have changed in these last fifty-five years or so.
And so I’ve learned something new. Thank you, SD, and especially Heidita, for first pointing it out to me.
I had intended to answer then saw bigote's contribution. I slightly prefer the answer with any longer but any more is an acceptable alternative. You can say 'he is no longer here' which is neater but slightly more formal.
Here is the Oxford Advanced Learners piece:
[OALD][1]
In the UK I use any more as an adverb and also for quantity eg Is there any more cake? In speech there is a change of emphasis to make the meaning clear. Americans use 'anymore' which is sometimes used here though I did see a video from an American teacher where she referred to it as any more so it must be optional. Here is a video
[1]: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/any-more?q=Any mode
Hi everybody, thanks for posting, I guess Guillermo was just as surprised as I was when Bigote said what he did, especially considering that I respect him a lot, normally his answers are spot on, both in English and in Spanish.
I thought this could be right...no longer is less used I would guess than any more, but that any more might actually be wrong...that did surprise me.
I also liked the links you all supplied, very interesting the difference of spelling of any more to anymore in American English.
Once again, thanks to all of you for taking the time 
Bigote...see why I so often tell people on daily threads...hey, post a question on the forum....I have always found this the best way to learn and to confirm a doubt
Firstly I agree with Ann - Any more for quantity, anymore for time. That is the distinction I thought was historically / technically correct. When the Cambridge article says "anymore" as an adverb is more common in Am. Eng. that could be because in some cases Am. Eng has actually evolved less than Brit. Eng.
Secondly I agree with Bosque - Either usage to mean "no longer" is fine these days. If there ever was a set in stone distinction between "any more" and "anymore", when referring to time, I don't think it is set in stone any[ ]more.
Which means thirdly, I must agree with Wink, that language is always evolving.
The one thing I would add, is when you will see "anymore" used incorrectly, and that is when it is used to describe a quantity. In these cases I would never use "anymore," always "any more":
I don't want any more - I don't want anything else
I don't want anymore - I no longer want
The meaning of the first sentence could be ambiguous, of course
