Let’s learn Italian indefinite pronouns

Some weeks ago, I talked about invariable indefinite adjectives in Italian. Today, I’d like to talk about Italian indefinites that can be used only as pronouns.

Indefinite pronouns are words that are used to refer to people or things in a non-specific way, without saying who or what they are. Some examples in English are someone, anyone, few, something, etc.

If I say “someone left a package for me”, for example, I know that the word someone refers to a person but I don’t know to whom it’s referring exactly.

Indefinite pronouns

In Italian we have seven indefinites that can be used only as pronouns: chiunque, niente, nulla, ognuno, qualcosa, qualcuno and uno.

Chiunque

Chiunque is invariable. It is used to refer to any person, and it’s used when it’s not important to say exactly who did the action.

Example:

Chiunque può imparare una lingua straniera

Anyone can learn a foreign language

Niente/nulla

Niente and nulla are invariable. They are synonyms and mean nothing.

Example:

Niente/nulla mi può sorprendere ormai

Nothing can surprise me anymore

Ognuno

Ognuno can only be used in its singular form and it can change according to the gender, so it becomes ognuna in the feminine. Ognuno means each person.

Example:

Ognuno dovrebbe rispettare le regole

Each one of us should respect rules

Qualcosa

Qualcosa is invariable. It is used to mean a particular thing when you don’t know its name or you don’t know exactly what it is.

Example:

C’è qualcosa di strano in questa storia

There’s something weird in this story

Qualcuno

Qualcuno can only be used in its singular form and it can change according to the gender, so it becomes qualcuna in the feminine. Qualcuno is used to indicate a person when you don’t know or don’t want to specify who the person is.

Example:

Qualcuno ha trovato un portafoglio?

Did someone find a wallet?

Uno

Uno is a synonym of qualcuno. However, uno is used only in informal Italian, while qualcuno is used in standard and in formal Italian.

Like qualcuno, uno can only be used in its singular form and it changes according to the gender. So, it becomes una in the feminine.

Example:

Ieri ho visto uno che somigliava molto a tuo fratello

Yesterday I saw someone who looked very much like your brother

Did this article about Italian indefinite pronouns help you improve your Italian a little bit? If so, don’t forget to share it.

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Credits

Original image by Tumisu