Something vs. anything

My dictionaries are giving me the same answer for both "something and anything". So I am confused. :? When does one use "что-нибудъ" vs. кое-что??? :? Thanks........ :)

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Originally Posted by Haksaw

My dictionaries are giving me the same answer for both "something and anything". So I am confused. :? When does one use "что-нибудъ" vs. кое-что??? :? Thanks........ :)

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Что-то - something
Что-нибудь - anything

kinda... It's important to realize that you can't translate between English and Russian one-to-one. How you translate "something" and "anything" depends VERY much on context.

There's probably a thread... search around...

I thought that кое-что was used when you had something in particular in mind that you were speaking of. ....Or was it the other way around......

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Originally Posted by DDT

I thought that кое-что was used when you had something in particular in mind that you were speaking of. ....Or was it the other way around......

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Like in the sense of, "I think it was a pony or something"

Что-то, "something," implies something definite. Что-нибудь, "something," implies that several choices may exist, and thus can sometimes be translated "anything."

Вы хотите Что-то? Do you want something? (For example, the person addressed has been eyeing your pen)
Вы хотите Что-нибудь? Do you want something? (You show someone a platter of hors d'oeuvres)

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... 2%EE#76916
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... E%E5#59227

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Originally Posted by challenger

Что-то, "something," implies something definite. Что-нибудь, "something," implies that several choices may exist, and thus can sometimes be translated "anything."

Вы хотите что-то? Do you want something? (For example, the person addressed has been eyeing your pen)
Вы хотите что-нибудь? Do you want something? (You show someone a platter of hors d'oeuvres)

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Originally Posted by challenger

Что-то, "something," implies something definite. Что-нибудь, "something," implies that several choices may exist, and thus can sometimes be translated "anything."

Вы хотите Что-то? Do you want something? (For example, the person addressed has been eyeing your pen)
Вы хотите Что-нибудь? Do you want something? (You show someone a platter of hors d'oeuvres)

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"Вы хотите что-то" sounds a little strange. I would say "Вы хотите что-нибудь"
Что-нибудь - may be translated as "something" and "anything"
FAI: Bring me something I want to see (Принеси ме что-нибудь, что я хочу видеть)
Is there anything you want? (Тебе что-нибудь нужно?)

Вы что-то хотите мне сказать?
Скажите хоть что-нибудь!

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Originally Posted by Dimitri

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Originally Posted by challenger

Что-то, "something," implies something definite. Что-нибудь, "something," implies that several choices may exist, and thus can sometimes be translated "anything."

Вы хотите что-то? Do you want something? (For example, the person addressed has been eyeing your pen)
Вы хотите что-нибудь? Do you want something? (You show someone a platter of hors d'oeuvres)

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I know, I was too lazy to change the capital letters I cut & pasted from a previous post...

I thought of another one:

Я забыл что-нибудь? Did I forget something?
Да, Вы забыли что-то. Yes, you forgot something.

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Originally Posted by challenger

Да, Вы забыли что-то. Yes, you forgot something.

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This "что-то" will mean
"you forgot something, I don't know what is it"

Да, вы кое-что забыли
This one would be more common.

Shto-to is more specific than shto-nibud'.

"Ty mne skazal shto-to sevodnya, no ya zabyl, shto eto bylo" - You told me something today, but I forgot what it was. (I think this is more Koe-shto)

Shto-nibud on the other hand, translates to 'something' that, in reality, means 'anything', so:

"Skazhi shto-nibud" would mean "Say something!". You can see that that 'something' in that sentence actually means 'anything.