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The words некто (a certain person), нечто (a certain thing), некоторый (some, certain), несколько (some, several), ктo-то (somebody), чтo-то (something), ктo-нибудь (anybody), чтo-нибудь (anything), какoй-то (some kind of), кoе-ктo (somebody) are the indefinite pronouns. They refer to indefinite or unknown things, people, features or quantities.  Let's consider some examples:

Related Resources • Interrogative Pronouns • Personal Pronouns • Reflexive Pronouns • Cases of Russian Nouns External Links • Demonstrative Pronouns by R. Beard • Possessive Pronouns by R. Beard •  Interrogative Pronouns from R. Beard

В некотором царстве жил царь.
(In some kingdom there lived a king.)

Кто-то взял мою ручку.
(Somebody has taken my pen.)

Скажите что-нибудь.
(Say something.)

The indefinite pronouns are formed from the interrogative pronouns with the help of such prefixes as не-, кое- and suffixes -то, -либо, -нибудь.

Note, that the suffixes -то, -либо, -нибудь and the prefix кое- are written with a hyphen. On the contrary, the pronouns with the prefix не are always solid. The prefix кое loses its hyphen when it is separated from a pronoun by a preposition, for example:

Эта книга заставила меня кое о чём подумать.
(This book has given me several/some ideas.)

The good news is that the indefinite pronouns некто and нечто do not change by cases. They are always used in the nominative. The rest of the indefinite pronouns change like their interrogative counterparts.

The indefinite pronouns with the prefix кое- are used to talk about things known to the speaker but unfamiliar to the listener.

Мне нужно тебе кое-что сказать
(I have something to say to you.)

Он пытался выудить у меня кое-какую информацию.
(He tried to fish some information out of me.)

The indefinite pronouns formed with the suffixes -то and -нибудь are the most common ones. There is a difference in the meaning of these two suffixes. The suffix -то is used to speak about people, things and features which are real and definite, but not familiar to the speaker.

Кто-то поёт.
(Somebody is singing.)

Я нашёл чей-то портфель.
(I found somebody's case.)

Какой-то человек искал тебя.
(Some man was looking for you.)

The suffix -нибудь is used when people and things are indefinite or not chosen by the speaker from several possible ones.

Пусть кто-нибудь останется и поможет мне.
(Will somebody stop behind to help me?)

Давай посадим на клумбу какие-нибудь цветы.
(Let's plant a bed with some flowers.)

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