Indefinite words: How to form and use them in Russian?

Indefinite words are words like “any,” “some,” “someone,” “anywhere,” or “sometime,” that are used to discuss uncertain or unspecified things, people, times, places, and more. In Russian, we use indefinite words much like you would in English.

• You don’t know or don’t really care which pen you want?
  

• You are not sure who the visitor was?

Just like how, in English, most of these kinds of words start with “some” or “any,” Russian indefinite words tend to follow certain patterns. In this post, we’ll talk about the different ways to form indefinite words in Russian, how to use these words, and some of the differences between them. Let’s dive right in!

There are a few different types of indefinite words in Russian, each one with a slightly different meaning. These are:

• -нибудь / -либо

  Transcription: niBOOD / LEEba

  words that leave the identity of the thing, person, place, etc. unspecified, usually because it is not important
• -то

  Transcription: ta

  used when the identity of the thing, person, place etc. is unknown
• кое-

  Transcription: KOye

  used when you don’t want to identify the thing, person, place, etc., perhaps because it is a secret
• не-

  Transcription: nye

  the thing, person, etc. is unfamiliar (there are only a few indefinite words like this)

In the sections below we’ll take you through when to use each type of indefinite word and how to construct the base forms of each of these words. If you want to learn how and when to decline these words, we’ll talk about that in the next section. Let’s have a look!

The endings -нибудь (transcribed niBOOD) and -либо (transcribed LEEba) are used to form some of the most common indefinite words in Russian. Words formed with these endings are used to describe a thing, person, property, or quantity that you do not want to specify. This is usually done because it is not important to you, or because all options are the same to you, and you do not care which one it will be.

For example, when you are hungry you may say:

• Давай купим что-нибудь поесть.

  Transcription: daVAY KOOpim shto-niBOOD paYEST

  Translation: Let’s buy something to eat.
• Мы можем где-нибудь перекусить?

  Transcription: my MOzhem gdye-niBOOD pyeryekooSEET

  Translation: Can we grab a bite to eat somewhere?

You can also use them in questions (mostly of the yes/no type) when you expect the answer to be anything from “none” to “every,” or “never” to “always,” and other broad ranges:

• Кто-нибудь хочет кофе?

  Transcription: kto-niBOOD KHOchit KOfye

  Translation: Does anybody want coffee?
• Вы когда-либо были в Риме?

  Transcription: vy kagDA-liba BYli v REEmye

  Translation: Have you ever been to Rome?

  Literally: lit. Here, когда-либо would most directly translate to “any time”

As you can see from the examples above, these indefinite words are quite easy to form:

Indefinite words with -то (transcribed ta) are another common type of indefinite words in Russian. You’ll usually use them when you can’t specify a thing, person, quality, etc. because you do not know or do not remember certain details. For example:

• Я его где-то раньше видел.

  Transcription: ya yiVO GDYE-ta VEEdyel

  Translation: I have seen him somewhere before.
• Она почему-то заплакала.

  Transcription: aNA pachiMOO-ta zaPLAkala

  Translation: She started crying for some reason.

Indefinite words with -то can also be used in questions (again, usually of the yes/no type) as a way to check in on what is going on, but are not completely sure and would like to know more:

• Ты куда-то спешишь?

  Transcription: ty kooDA-ta spiSHEESH

  Translation: Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?
• Вы что-то потеряли?

  Transcription: vy SHTO-ta patyeRYAli

  Translation: Have you lost something?

The structure for forming a question or statement with the indefinite word -то is more or less the same as the structure of the indefinite words we have seen so far:

Indefinite words that begin with кое- (transcribed KOye) form a peculiar category in Russian. You’ll most often use these when you know exactly which thing, person, quality, place, etc. you are talking about, but you don’t want to say which one. This can be because it’s a surprise, a secret, or because you believe it’s your private matter. Using these can arouse curiosity and makes the listener wonder what story lies behind your words. Look at these examples:

• Почему ты вернулся? - Я кое-что забыл.

  Transcription: pachiMOO ty virNOOLsya? - ya KOye-shto zaBYL

  Translation: Why did you come back? - I forgot something.
• Тебе кое-кто привет передаёт из Парижа.

  Transcription: tiBYE KOye-kto priVYET pyeryedaYOT is paREEzha

  Translation: Someone says ‘hi’ to you from Paris.

Unlike the indefinite endings we’ve seen so far, кое- is a prefix, so here is how you will usually make indefinite words with кое-:

Indefinite words with не- (transcribed nye) is the smallest category of indefinite words in Russian. There are only five of them:

1. некоторый (transcribed NYEkatariy, meaning “some”)

2. несколько (transcribed NYEskalka, meaning “a few, several”)

3. некто (transcribed NYEkta, meaning “somebody”)

4. нечто (transcribed NYEchta, meaning “something”)

5. некий (transcribed NYEkiy, meaning “some”)

Let’s go through when to use each of these words:

• некоторый (transcribed NYEkatariy, meaning “some”) and несколько (transcribed NYEskalka, meaning “a few, several”) are the most common indefinite words from this category. They are widely used in everyday speech:

  • Некоторые люди не любят праздники.

    Transcription: NYEkataryie LYUdi nye LYOObyat PRAZniki

    Translation: Some people do not like holidays.
  • У меня есть несколько друзей в Лондоне.

    Transcription: oo miNYA yest NYEskalka drooZYEY v LONdanye

    Translation: I have a few friends in London.

• Некто (transcribed NYEkta) and нечто (transcribed NYEchta) are used to refer to “someone unfamiliar” and “something unfamiliar” respectively. These are mostly used in formal and academic writing, or fiction literature.

  They are, essentially, more formal versions of the indefinite words кто-то (transcribed kto-ta, meaning “someone”) and что-то (transcribed shto-ta, meaning “something”).

  Informal	Formal / Literary	English
  кто-то (transcribed kto-ta)	некто (transcribed NYEkta)	someone (unknown)
  что-то (transcribed shto-ta)	нечто (transcribed NYEchta)	something (unknown)

  These indefinite words only exist in the nominative case form. Usually they are followed by some kind of description of an object/person:

  • Ко мне подошёл некто в темном костюме.

    Transcription: ka mnye padaSHOL NYEkta f TYOMnam kasTYOOmye

    Translation: Someone in a dark suit came up to me.
  • На улице происходило нечто странное.

    Transcription: na OOlitse praiskhaDEEla NYEchta STRANaye

    Translation: Something strange was happening in the street.

• Некий (transcribed NYEkiy) functions as an adjective meaning “some” or “certain” and also has a literary feel to it:

  Он увидел в этом некий смысл.

  Transcription: on ooVEEdil v Etam NYEkiy smysl

  Translation: He saw some kind of meaning in it.

Many indefinite words in Russian act like adverbs (e.g. those that translate to “anywhere”, “sometime,” etc.) and so never change their forms.

However, those indefinite words that function as nouns or adjectives, can take on forms that reflect the case, number, or gender of the noun they describe or replace.

The indefinite words with these endings that are declined usually begin with:

• кто- (transcribed kto, meaning “who”) → “someone” or “anyone”

• что- (transcribed shto, meaning “what”) → “something” or “anything”

• чей- (transcribed chey, meaning “whose”) → “someone’s” or “anyone’s”

• какой- (transcribed kaKOY, meaning “which”) → “some” or “any”

For example:

• adjective (masculine, instrumental)

  Хочу кофе с каким-нибудь пирожным.

  Transcription: khaCHOO KOfye s chem-niBOOD SLATkim

  Translation: I want coffee with some cake.

  Каким-нибудь agrees with the noun пирожным (meaning cake).
• noun (accusative)

  Вы знаете кого-либо из руководства?

  Transcription: vy ZNAyetye kaVO-liba iz rookaVOTstva

  Translation: Do you know anyone from the management?

  Кого-либо acts as a noun, and the context makes it accusative.
• adjective (accusative, feminine)

  Она почувствовала кого-либо руку на своём плече.

  Transcription: aNA paCHOOstvavala CHYOO-ta rookoo na svaYOM plyeCHE

  Translation: She felt someone’s hand on her shoulder.

  Чью-то agrees with the accusative feminine noun руку (meaning hand).
• noun (dative)

  Я отдал документы кому-то из бухгалтерии.

  Transcription: ya adDAL dakooMYENty kaMOO-ta iz boogalTYErii

  Translation: I gave the documents to someone from accounting.

  Кому-то acts as a noun, and the context makes it dative.

Check out our full list of indefinite words in Russian at the bottom of the page to see some examples of how some of these words are declined.

• Кое-как (transcribed kOye-kak), in addition to “somehow,” may also mean “carelessly, hurriedly, badly” when talking about quality of work:

  Он выполнил работу кое-как.

  Transcription: on VYpalnil raBOtoo koye-KAK

  Translation: He did his job half-heartedly.

  There is now even a slang word that comes from this:

  кое-какер

  Transcription: kOye-KAkyer

  Translation: a lousy worker

• Нечто (transcribed NYEchta)and что-то (transcribed SHTO-ta) (meaning “something”) are often used in modern colloquial speech to mean “something incredible,” in a positive or negative way:

  Его новый дом - это нечто!

  Transcription: yiVO NOviy dom - eEta NYEchta

  Translation: His new house is quite something!

• Because indefinite words are quite long, Russians tend to shorten them when pronouncing them like this:

  • -нибудь (transcribed niBOOD)⇒ (transcribed nit)

  • кое- (transcribed KOye)⇒ (transcribed koy)

In this post we’ve introduced you to the different ways to form indefinite words in Russian. Here are the main groups:

• question word + -нибудь (transcribed niBOOD) / -либо (transcribed LEEba)

• question word + -то (transcribed ta)

• кое- (transcribed KOye) + question word

• Words with не- (transcribed nye)

Now, it’s time to practice! Have a look at our Russian indefinite words activities, or download one of the reference sheets below. Happy learning!