What part of speech is "any" in "They knew all of the answers because they studied"?

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In the sentence "They knew all of the answers because they studied," the word "any" does not actually appear, but if considering the entire context where "any" would hypothetically fit in, it would typically serve as an adjective. Adjectives are words that modify or describe nouns, providing additional detail.

In a case where "any" might be used (for example, "They didn't know any of the answers"), it describes the noun "answers," contributing to understanding the quantity or types of answers being referred to. Adjectives help to clarify whether we are discussing specific, all, or in this case, some indefinite amount of nouns.

Thus, thinking about its function, "any" operates as a word providing more context to the noun it modifies, which is why describing it as an adjective is accurate in situations where it appears.