кое-что /or/ что-то

[david-us.livejournal.com]

In my studies (on an audio CD) I ran across the following sentence that I was required to translate into Russian.

(Woman speaking)

"I bought something."

I translated it as, "Я купила что-то."

Then the translation was provided as, "Я купила кое-что."

Was I wrong? Is there a difference between the two; кое-что/что-то? If not, which is more common?

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Comments

[shimshoni.livejournal.com]

Yes, you were wrong.
"Что-то" is more common but in this sentence "кое-что" is the only right variant.
I can't describe the difference though)
"Я купила что-то" means "I bought something I don't know".

[icamel.livejournal.com]

It also could be "I bought something that I doubt to be useful or appropriate".