(no subject)

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

 Again, over time I've accumulated several questions. I appreciate your help with any of them: 

1. In conversation, very often situations arise when someone asks a question and you want to answer "Well it depends on the [some thing -- person/car/situation/city]..." In the past I always said this in the following way:

-Там холодно?
-Ну, зависит от штата

But I noticed that Russians seem to express this more often with the phrase смотря на [thing]. Is this a more natural phrase to use? And can you use it in almost any situation? For instance
-Там холодно?
-Ну, смотря на штат..

-Тебе нравится русский рок?
-Смотря на группу

2. I've noticed that there are a few newer and probably slang ways to express displeasure with a situation. Кошмар is a fairly traditional way. There is also жуть and жесть. Are there any other popular variants like these? Are жуть and жесть the same?

3. What is the difference between "что-то" and "нечто"? Is it just that нечто is more literary?

4. In general is it always fairly safe to use кое-... instead of ...-то? For instance,  кое-как, кое-кто, кое-что instead of как-то, кто-то, что-то? Is it simply a more literary way of saying it? Or is there some other nuance in the meaning?

5. When are казалось and показалось used? Are they just a standard imperfective / perfective pair? What's the difference for instance between

Мне показалось, что ей понравился он. 
Мне казалось, что ей понравился он.

Comments

[andrey-bessonov.livejournal.com]

4. When you say кое-что & кое-кто you certainly know what or who it is; not necessarily so with что-то & кто-то.
E.g., I would say "Он показал мне кое-что очень интересное" but "Он мне показал что-то - я не понял, что именно".
Some people will use что-то in both cases. On the other hand you can't use кое-что in the second sentence.

Кое-как usually means 'not very well' & is not synonymous to как-то: "Он сделал свою работу кое-как".

Как-то means either 'I don't know how' or 'not properly because of the lack of means/time/...', e.g. "Как-то ему удалось перевязать раны" = He somehow managed to bandage his wounds (maybe with his shirt or something)