Thread: кто-то...нибудь...либо

Ciao.
Is there a simple (... ) rule to know when need to use:

кто-то
кто-нибудь
кто-либо

Thanks in advance.

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I have completely given up trying to learn and understand this concept and have accepted the fact that I will just have to learn it by "ear".

Originally Posted by samurai

Ciao.
Is there a simple (... ) rule to know when need to use:

кто-то
кто-нибудь
кто-либо

Thanks in advance.

Кто-нибудь is unspecific, and can be used in hypothetic situation, where the person discussed can be anyone, it doesn't matter who.

Eg. Спроси у кого-нибудь.
Кто-нибудь знает, как мне в метро добраться?

N.B. due to it's "unspecificness" and lack of importance as to whom the person is, you can never hear it with past tense verb.

Кто-то, translated as "someone, somebody", is more specific, yet the person in the question is unknown.

E.g. "Кто-то украл мою мобилу" (Someone stole my cellphone (but I don't know who)).

Костя, кто-то тебя ждет в офисе (Kostya, someone's waiting for you in the office (but I don't know who))

Кое-кто (yes, you didn't mention it, I know, but it's still important to know, for the sake of comparison) is more specific кто-то but in the sense of knowing the person, yet sometimes not wanting to mention their name.

E.g. "Что с лицом?" "я дрался кое с кем" ("What happened to your face?" "I had a fight with someone (but I won't mention who)")
N.B. If you use Кто-то here, it would seem that you fought with some random guy, whom you don't know.

"Мам, я опоздаю. Мне надо кое кого подбросить" ("Mom, I'm gonna be late. I have to drop off someone (A friend, perhaps. The person here is known to the speaker).

Кто-либо is less specific that кто-нибудь, in the sense that it doesn't have a specific target audience. Compare:

"Кто-нибудь знает, в сколько начинается фильм?" (Does anyone know what time the movie starts?)
"Кто-либо увидел летающую тарелку вчера вечером?" (Has anyone (in the country, city.. etc) seen the flying saucer last night?) (The asker here does ask a specific audience, but wonders if anyone else other than them has seen the flying saucer.)

NB: For the sake of it, just avoid кто-либо altogether and stick to кто-нибудь. The differences between these two words are thin that you don't need the former. Just stick to кто-нибудь. That's what I do at least.

Hope that helped

Yazeed, you did it great! However, the last example sounds more natural as "кто-ниубдь видел". "Кто-нибудь" and "кто-либо" are mutually interchangeable in many speech situations, and one ought to play it by ear what to choose.

я дрался кое с кем" ("What happened to your face?" "I had a fight with someone (but I won't mention who)")

I don't get it! If you say that you have had a fight with someone while inferring you don't want to mention his name, it is just going to start another conversation about why you are hiding the name of this mysterious person and you will never hear the end of it! So why even mention that you had a fight?? You may as well keep it a secret to yourself and avoid all the questioning.

Originally Posted by DDT

я дрался кое с кем" ("What happened to your face?" "I had a fight with someone (but I won't mention who)")

I don't get it! If you say that you have had a fight with someone while inferring you don't want to mention his name, it is just going to start another conversation about why you are hiding the name of this mysterious person and you will never hear the end of it! So why even mention that you had a fight?? You may as well keep it a secret to yourself and avoid all the questioning.

Что случилось с твоим лицом? Да ничего, просто подрался кое с кем или Да ничего, просто подрался с кем-то.
Неважно с кем, главное, что царапины на лице результат драки, а не автокатастрофы или падения с балкона.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Что случилось с твоим лицом? Да ничего, просто подрался кое с кем или Да ничего, просто подрался с кем-то.
Неважно с кем, главное, что царапины на лице результат драки, а не автокатастрофы или падения с балкона.

Во втором случае предполагается, что говорящий не знает, с кем именно он подрался ( например потому что был сильно пьян ), в отличие от первого, когда знает, но не хочет рассказывать. И дополнительных вопросов ( а давно ли ты перестал помнить, с кем только что подрался ) все равно не избежать.