Indefinite pronouns

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Indefinite pronouns
1. Adjective form
The adjective form is used before nouns.
Translate
jokainen ihminen
every person
jokainen tietokone
every computer
joku nainen
some/a woman
joku lehti
some/a magazine
kukaan opettaja
any teacher
mikään työ
any work
ei kukaan oppilas
no student
ei mikään ongelma
no problem
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2. Pronoun form
If there is no noun, then we need to use a full
pronoun form.
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kaikki tulevat
everybody is coming
kaikki muuttuu
everything changes
joku huusi
somebody shouted
jotain tapahtui
something happened
kuka tahansa saa tulla
anybody can come
mikä tahansa käy
anything goes
kukaan ei välitä
nobody cares
mikään ei toimit
nothing works
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3. Before of phrases
Of phrases are used before pronouns (e.g. me,
mine) or determiners (the, a, those).
Translate
every one/all/each of us
jokainen meistä
every one/all/each of them
jokainen niistä
joku tiestä
one of you
osa rahoista
some of the money
kukaan meistä
any of us
mikään työpaikoista
any of the jobs
ei kukaan lapsista
none of the children
ei mikään pyöristä
none of the bikes
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Every
Although all takes the plural, every takes the
singular. And its worth noticing that kaikki
isnt always all!
Every problem has a solution. All problems have
solutions.
If a Finnish sentence begins with kaikki ei,
then use not everybody/everythingin English.
Not everybody has the chance to
Nowadays most people use they, their, theirs with
the -body/-thing pronouns.
Someone has lost their money, havent they?
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Some / Any
Some and any suggest an indefinite amount of
something. Some is used in declarative clauses,
whereas any is used in negative sentences or
questions.
I need some money. Sorry, I dont have any.
Words like never, barely, hardly, seldom and
without have a negative meaning, so any is used.
I tried for hours without any success.
The any- pronouns are also used in declarative
sentences, with a general meaning.
Anything will do.
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No
No and the no- pronouns have the same meaning as
nota/any.
They had no choice (/no time). They didnt have a
choice (/any time).
But you cant begin a negative clause with an
any- pronoun.
Nobody was paying any attention.
Notice that no is not used in the following types
of sentences.
- Did you say she had two bets and you had none?
- Not bets, pets.
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Neither / Either
Neither is boths negative equivalent. Just like
either, it takes the plural, and can occur
without a noun.
Both of the shops were expensive, but neither (of
them) was very interesting.
In a declarative clause, either means jompikumpi
/ kumpi tahansa.
- I dont know which one to take. - Take either.
But in negative clauses it means kumpikaan tai
myöskään.
- I havent heard of either (of them). - I
havent either.
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Other
Other has no plural form, but it does have a
special form when it comes after a another.
Whos got my other glove? (/other gloves?) I need
another drink!
Others is a pronoun form, and refers to people.
Others have tried before.
Be careful with toinen..toinen. In English it is
usually onethe other. Toisettoiset is
some(the) others.
There were two doors, one was blue, and the other
was red.
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Else
Else occurs in words ending with one, body, thing
ja where and after question words.
Lets do something else.
What else do you know?
Now practise these indefinite pronouns
1. Kaikki tarvitsevat ruokaa.
Everybody needs food.
2. Toin kaikki paperit.
I brought all the papers.
3. Jokainen päivä on uusi haaste.
Every day is a new challenge.
4. Sinä et muista kaikkea.
You dont remember everything.
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One of you knows.
5. Joku teistä tietää.
6. Joku on käynyt.
Someones been here.
7. Osa leivästä syötiin.
Some of the bread was eaten.
8. Ketkään heistä tuli.
None of them came.
Did she do anything else?
9. Tekikö hän mitään muuta?
10. Kaikki ei halua lähteä töihin.
Not everybody wants to go to work.
11. Onko toista kynää?
Is there another pen?
12. Kun toinen haastateltava lähti, toinen saapui.
When one interviewee left, another arrived.