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[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Something I've been wanting to ask for a long time but always forget...

When do you use кто-то, кто-нибудь, и кто-либо? And all of their counterparts. I.e. что-то, что-нибудь, что-либо? And do the other interrogative pronouns also fall in this case, such as где, когда, как?

Comments

[apollotiger.livejournal.com]

At least for кто-то, isn't it the difference between "someone" and "something?"

[yers.livejournal.com]

-то is definite (as when you speak of "someone" or "something" with a definite "someone" and "something" in mind), and -нибудь is indefinite. -либо is virtually the same as -нибудь but rarely used outside formal style.

Roughly, -то is the English "some-" and -нибудь is "any-", but you can't always rely on that. It might also be helpful to remember the historic origins of these particles: -то is the archaic Slavic definite article (still used in Bulgarian and Macedonian), and -нибудь is ни+будь, so "кто-нибудь" technically means "whoever it be".

So, for example, you'd say "кто-то взял мой журнал" (somebody took my magazine) but "кто-нибудь видел мой журнал?" (has anybody seen my magazine?)

And yes, you can alse use them with как, где and куда. There's also "почему-то" - "for some reason", literally "somewhy".

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing a conversation that went like "Вы хотите поесть койчто?" Well, that's as good as I can write it. What's the койчто?

[giantantattack.livejournal.com]

I think you might be talking about "кое-что". From what I understand, the prefix "кое" signifies something that is known to the speaker but not to the listener. For example, "Он хотел кое-что от меня," (He wanted something from me.) or "Я встретил кое-кого на обед." (I met someone for lunch.)

[mricon.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily. You can use "кое-кого" if you don't really want (or care) to specify who it was:

-- Ты где был?
-- Да так, встретил кое-кого на обед.

The reasons for "кое-кого" can be, as you said, if the person you're talking to doesn't know the person you had lunch with (your cousin twice removed), doesn't need to know who that was (e.g. if you're talking to your boss after just having had a job interview with someone from a rival company), or if it doesn't really matter who you had lunch with (e.g. "Masha Petrova from accounting," whom they may know, but don't care if you had lunch with them one way or the other).

[gris-diable.livejournal.com]

So don't speak in Russian. It's impossible to meet someone for lunch. It's possible to invite only. Is more correct to tell - Да так, встретил кое-кого во время обеда. or Да так, увидел кое-кого, пока обедал.

[mricon.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, I have actually paused over that, wondering if I should correct it, but it's a minor semantic issue in this case, and I was trying to explain the rules pertaining to a different subject.

Generally, "на " (e.g. "на обед", или "на ужин") is reserved for things you ate during that meal: "на ужин нас угощали куриным супом" ("for dinner we were treated to chicken soup"), so technically "я встретил кое-кого на обед" means that you have met someone for lunch and then ate them. :) There are, however, uses that are accepted, such as "он пригласил нас на обед" or "приходите к нам на ужин", so it's tricky. I can't put my finger on any definitive rule, but it's probably because it's my native language and it's always very hard to come up with rules for a language that was learned naturally. :(

Unless someone offers a better way, I'd say it's one of those things you have to remember (and believe me, I know how frustrating that is). However, if you say "Я встретил кое-кого на обед" most Russians will understand exactly what you mean, and many won't even notice the awkward wording.

[mricon.livejournal.com]

Hm... That doesn't really sound right. In Russian, that phrase would be worded like so: "Вы хотите чего-нибудь поесть?"

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Well, actually there is a certain context in which "вы хотите поесть кое-что" may sound right. It's when the speaker wants the actual meal to be a pleasant surprise to the addressee, like "Do you want to eat something really special that I have cooked for you but won't tell you what it is until you'll see it?"... But even in this case, I would say "хотите кое-что попробовать?" (would you like to try something special?)