Learn English – Does it sound weird to say ” I hope I can be of any use (help) to you” in a cover letter

letter-writing

Which one is better? Are they acceptable or do they sound weird in English?

Best Answer

No. It doesn't matter whether you say help or use;
both sentences are ungrammatical, because of any.

Any in the phrase of any use to you is a negative polarity item (NPI), and therefore it must occur within the scope of a negative trigger. There is no negation in the sentence, so it's ungrammatical.

Both predicate nouns would be grammatical, however, in a sentence with a negative trigger, like

I didn't think I could be (of) any use to you.

I didn't think I could be (of) any help to you.

and in both cases the (of) could be dropped, as well.