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

[freedomcry.livejournal.com]

Что-то would presume you don't, or don't quite, know what you bought.

Кое-что is best expressed as "a certain something".

[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".

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

кое-что - something that you dont' know _or_ something that you know but the person you speak to doesn't know (secret, present)
что-то - something

"Я купила кое-что" is more common, because usually right now the person you speak to doesn't know what have you bought.

[icamel.livejournal.com]

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

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Compare the following:

Вася! К тебе кто-то пришёл! (Vasya, here's somebody to visit you)
Вася! К тебе кое-кто пришёл! (Vasya, here's somebody to visit you; I know who but I won't tell you as I want it to be a surprise!)

[towarysc.livejournal.com]

Кое-что is _always_ something the speaker knows. He doesn't specify it either because he doesn't want his interlocutor to know it or because he doesn't think it needs specification.

[oryx_and_crake]

I need to buy something for Vasya's birthday.
Мне нужно что-то купить Васе в подарок на день рождения.
(I don't know yet what I am going to buy)

Мне нужно кое-что купить Васе в подарок на день рождения.
(I know pretty well what I am going to buy.)

Since the woman in question evidently knows what she bought (unless it was a mystery bag), you should use кое-что.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

My mom, when she buys something for me or my dad unexpectedly, she teases us with the phrase "(а) я что-то купила" which is said with a certain tone and look and can be repeated several times for us to get interested, drop everything and come to see and get the thing.

It's also quite common to use что-то in such a sentence to denote something rather insignificant (could be cheap or insignificant in other ways) or something the buyer/bringer hasn't fully understood and left for later or to others to to figure out.

Кое-что means something that the buyer definitely knows. But the other person either doesn't know that something (teasing again) or does know/is expected to figure out (from the context or recent events) while the buyer doesn't want to name the thing because of certain inappropriateness or the desire to keep it secret (the latter being when there's a 3rd person present).

[windy-corner.livejournal.com]

Good comment, very clear.

I'd only add another one - 'что-нибудь' - something, not matter what
Давай купим Васе что-нибудь в подарок.

This way you'll have all the three! )))

[oryx_and_crake]

Right.
By the way, how would you explain the difference between что-то and что-нибудь? There certainly is a difference but I don't know how to explain it.

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, you are right.