Let me write some example sentences first:
- "Do you believe in a religion?"
- "Do you support a team in the NBA?"
- "Is there a girl with weird short pink hair at the party?"
Can I say these sentences above instead of these below:
- "Do you believe in any religion/any religions?"
- "Do you support any team/any teams in the NBA?"
- "Is there any girl with weird short pink hair at the party?"
Note: I know that the former group of sentences can be said in a situation where I have a guess. For example, I can say "Do you believe in a religion" in a context like this: Let's say I saw someone I know reading a book, and I asked him what he was reading, and he said "I am reading the holy book". As far as I know, in this situation, if I am thinking that he probably believes in a religion because of the fact that he is reading a "holy" book, I can say "Do you believe a religion?" or "You believe a religion?" as a response to what he said.
But what about the situations where I have no idea if a person believes a religion or not? Can I say "Do you believe in a religion" instead of "Do you believe in any religion/religions" in a situation like this: Let's say I am conversing with a person I just met. I have no single idea if that person believes any religions or whatever. We haven't talked about anything which has to do with religions at all. For starting a new conversation topic, can I say "Do you believe a religion?" instead of "Do you believe any religion/religions" to that person?
My question is the same for the other two sentences I gave.
EDIT: I think I need to add contexts for the other sentences too:
Context for the second sentence: Let's say I have no idea if someone I just met supports a team in the NBA or not. We haven't ever talked about it. For starting a new conversation topic, can I say "Do you support a team in the NBA?" instead of "Do you support any team/any teams in the NBA?"?
Context for the third sentence: Let's say I have a female friend, and she has "weird", short pink hair. Let's say we were both invited to a party and we both decided not to go there. And let's say during the time the party is continuing, when I am at home, I am feeling like my female friend might have attended the party without telling me about it (I have no idea if she is there though, or nobody told me she was there), and I am calling a male friend who went to the party for asking if she is there. Can I say "Is there a girl with weird short pink hair at the party?" instead of "Is there any girl with weird short pink hair at the party? to my male friend who doesn't know my female friend on the phone?
Best Answer
The question seems to focus more on religion than on sports or hair style.
A religion is a practice not a belief. You might not believe religions exist until you see people go to a place of worship. So religions are a fact, not a belief. They do exist.
However, a religion's followers share their beliefs in theological matters.
So if you see someone reading a holy book, pertinent questions might be
But if a conversation has given you a hint that it may be so, you can ask
I would not use that as an opening line for a conversation, it needs to be led towards by "small talk" to get a conversation going, unless you have an encounter with someone reading a holy book.
I realise I have side-stepped the question about "a" or "any", because I would not say it like that at all, and I hope this answer helps.
Update:
In the second case, I think you can say "a team" or "any team".
The third case is harder.
This implies you have seen or know the girl and want to know if she is at the party.
This means you want to meet such a girl and ask if there is one like her at the party.