Thread: всякий and всякая

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They're pronouns when they stand in for "anyone". For example: всякий может это понять = anyone can understand that. Usually, when talking about anyone in general, the masculine form is used. The feminine version was probably included in your list because it could be used occasionally when it's known from context that the "anyone" is female - say, at a school for girls, perhaps.

Edit - though sometimes they may be translated as "everyone" - as in не всякий может это понять = not everyone can understand that.

Whats the difference between that and кто-нибудь? And if it can also mean everyone, why not just use все?

Originally Posted by Darobat

Whats the difference between that and кто-нибудь?

The difference is in the way they're used. Кто-нибудь is used in questions, всякий is (usually) used in statements. For example:

A guy at a meeting holds up a diagram, looking confused, and asks: Кто-нибудь это понимает?
Somebody from the back answers: Да всякий должен это понимать!

Originally Posted by Darobat

And if it can also mean everyone, why not just use все?

Hmm...thinking about it over again, there's probably a little difference in meaning there, more than I saw before. Here's a better (I hope) translation:

не всякий может это понять = not just anyone can understand that, meaning that the average person probably won't get it, whatever it is. So все and всякий aren't really interchangable without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Sorry about the confusion!