navitasan  +  946449 Sun, 18 Oct 09 11:16 PM Can one say: 1-Jeff said that Niles might have left with some of my books. If one is missing, I'll have to teach Niles a good lesson. or: 2-Jeff said that Niles might have left with some of my books. If one of them is missing, I'll have to teach Niles a good lesson. instead of: 3-Jeff said that Niles might have left with some of my books. If a particular one is missing, I'll have to teach Niles a good lesson. Here the speaker is worried about one specific book and doesn't care about the others. I am not sure that 1 or 2 mean that. To me, 1 and 2 mean that if any book is missing, Niles will have to be taught a good lesson. navitasan Joined on Sun, Jun 15 2008 Junior Member 63

	Avangi  +  946458 Sun, 18 Oct 09 11:18 PM All three versions are fine.  The third is a bit uncommon.  Your interpretation of "particular" is correct.  To use it to mean "any one" would be colloquial. I'd say it may also be interpreted as "one which is subsequently identified."  That is, you're sure that one is missing, because it's a "particular" one. Avangi Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007 Veteran Member 8,172 ". . . le plaisir delicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile." - Henri de Regnier

	RayH  +  946460 Sun, 18 Oct 09 11:21 PM I wouldn't use any of your three examples to convey the meaning you intend. Instead the speaker should refer either to the title of the book ("if Gone With the Wind is missing") or to it's subject matter ("if my history book", "if my math book", etc). RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert.

	Avangi  +  946470 Sun, 18 Oct 09 11:35 PM Edit. Sorry, I didn't make that very clear. If you discover that a book is missing because you count them and find one fewer than expected, "particular" wouldn't be appropriate. However, if the missing book is "identifiable," it might be used by some people.  I'll grant you, it's something of a stretch. Avangi Apologies

	CalifJim  +  946574 Mon, 19 Oct 09 02:31 AM navitasan “Here the speaker is worried about one specific book and doesn't care about the others. I am not sure that 1 or 2 mean that. (You can be sure they don't.) To me, 1 and 2 mean that if any book is missing, Niles will have to be taught a good lesson.” That is correct.  More idiomatically, a native speaker might do a bit of circumlocution to express 3. Jeff said that Niles might have left with some of my books.  There's one book in particular that I'm concerned about, and if that one is missing, I'll have to teach Niles a good lesson. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche