Indefinite pronouns.

252. 1. Quis, any one, is the weakest of the Indefinites, and stands usually in combination with sī, nisi, nē, num; as,—

sī quis putat, if any one thinks.

2. Aliquis (adj. aliquī) is more definite than quis, and corresponds usually to the English some one, somebody, some; as,—

nunc aliquis dīcat mihī, now let somebody tell me;

utinam modo agātur aliquid, oh that something may be done.

3. Quīdam, a certain one, is still more definite than aliquis; as,—

homō quīdam, a certain man (i.e., one whom I have in mind).

a. Quīdam (with or without quasi, as if) is sometimes used in the sense: a sort of, kind of; as,—

cognātiō quaedam, a sort of relationship;

mors est quasi quaedam migrātiō, death is a kind of transfer as it were.

4. Quisquam, any one, any one whoever (more general than quis), and its corresponding adjective ūllus, any, occur mostly in negative and conditional sentences, in interrogative sentences implying a negative, and in clauses of comparison; as,—

jūstitia numquam nocet cuiquam, justice never harms anybody;

sī quisquam, Catō sapiēns fuit, if anybody was ever wise, Cato was;

potestne quisquam sine perturbātiōne animī īrāscī, can anybody be angry without excitement?

sī ūllō modō poterit, if it can be done in any way;

taetrior hīc tyrannus fuit quam quisquam superiōrum, he was a viler tyrant than any of his predecessors.

5. Quisque, each one, is used especially under the following circumstances:—

a) In connection with suus. See § 244, 4, a.

b) In connection with a Relative or Interrogative Pronoun; as,—

quod cuique obtigit, id teneat, what falls to each, that let him hold.

c) In connection with superlatives; as,—

optimus quisque, all the best (lit. each best one).

d) With ordinal numerals; as,—

quīntō quōque annō, every four years (lit. each fifth year).

6. Nēmō, no one, in addition to its other uses, stands regularly with adjectives used substantively; as,—

nēmō mortālis, no mortal;

nēmō Rōmānus, no Roman.

Pronominal adjectives.

253. 1. Alius, another, and alter, the other, are often used correlatively; as,—

aliud loquitur, aliud sentit, he says one thing, he thinks another;

aliī resistunt, aliī fugiunt, some resist, others flee;

alter exercitum perdidit, alter vēndidit, one ruined the army, the other sold it;

alterī sē in montem recēpērunt, alterī ad impedīmenta sē contulērunt, the one party retreated to the mountain, the others betook themselves to the baggage.

2. Where the English says one does one thing, another another, the Latin uses a more condensed form of statement; as,—

alius aliud amat, one likes one thing, another another;

aliud aliīs placet, one thing pleases some, another others.

a. So sometimes with adverbs; as,—

aliī aliō fugiunt, some flee in one direction, others in another.

3. The Latin also expresses the notion 'each other' by means of alius repeated; as,—

Gallī alius alium cohortātī sunt, the Gauls encouraged each other.

4. Cēterī means the rest, all the others; as,—

cēterīs praestāre, to be superior to all the others.

5. Reliquī means the others in the sense of the rest, those remaining,—hence is the regular word with numerals; as,—

reliquī sex, the six others.

6. Nescio quis forms a compound indefinite pronoun with the force of some one or other; as,—

causidicus nescio quis, some pettifogger or other;

mīsit nescio quem, he sent some one or other;

nescio quō pactō, somehow or other.