Indefinite Pronouns in Greek

In Brief

Greek uses κάποιος for an unspecified person, κάτι for an unspecified thing, and κανείς/κανένας and τίποτα in negative sentences for “no one” and “nothing.” Κάθε means “every” before a singular noun, while forms of όλος express “all,” “the whole,” or, in the neuter plural όλα, “everything.” Unlike English, standard Greek normally keeps the negative word δεν with negative indefinites: Δεν ξέρω τίποτα literally has both “not” and “nothing,” but naturally means “I don’t know anything.”

Overview

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things without identifying them precisely: “someone,” “anything,” or “no one.” This article also includes the closely related determiners κάθε (“every”) and όλος (“all/whole”), because they let you speak generally about members of a group. A determiner is a word placed with a noun to show which people or things you mean.

These forms are introduced around A2 and occur constantly in everyday Greek: when someone rings the bell, when you know nothing about a problem, or when everyone arrives. The main beginner task is to learn which words change form for gender, number, and case. Case means the form a word takes according to its job in the sentence—for example, acting as the subject, receiving the action, or showing possession.

English-speaking learners need to pay special attention to negation. English normally avoids combinations such as “I don’t know nothing” in standard usage. Greek works differently: κανείς and τίποτα commonly appear together with δεν (“not”) or μη(ν) (“don’t/not”). This is normal agreement within a negative sentence, not an error.

How It Works

Κάποιος: someone, somebody, some

Κάποιος can stand alone as a pronoun or accompany a noun. It changes to agree with gender and number. When it accompanies a noun, it often means “some” or “a certain,” without identifying exactly which one.

Form	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular, subject form	κάποιος	κάποια	κάποιο
Singular, possessive/“of” form	κάποιου	κάποιας	κάποιου
Singular, object form	κάποιον	κάποια	κάποιο
Plural, subject form	κάποιοι	κάποιες	κάποια
Plural, possessive/“of” form	κάποιων	κάποιων	κάποιων
Plural, object form	κάποιους	κάποιες	κάποια

The subject form is used for the person or thing doing the action; the object form is used for the person or thing directly affected by it. In Κάποιος με πήρε τηλέφωνο, κάποιος is the subject. In Είδα κάποιον, κάποιον is the object.

• κάποιος on its own: “someone”
• κάποια γυναίκα: “some woman/a certain woman”
• κάποιο πρόβλημα: “some problem”
• κάποιοι λένε...: “some people say...”

Greek normally uses κάποιος, not an article plus κάποιος, when it means an unidentified “someone/some.”

Κάτι: something or anything

Κάτι does not change form. It usually means “something” in an affirmative statement:

• Θέλω κάτι να φάω. — “I want something to eat.”
• Κάτι συνέβη. — “Something happened.”

In questions, κάτι can also correspond to English “anything,” especially when the speaker expects that there may be a particular thing:

• Θέλεις κάτι; — “Do you want anything?”

Before an adjective, κάτι can identify an unspecified kind of thing: κάτι ωραίο (“something nice”), κάτι διαφορετικό (“something different”). The adjective is neuter singular because κάτι refers to an unspecified thing.

Κανείς and κανένας: no one, anyone, not one

For people, κανείς and κανένας are alternative masculine subject forms. Both are common. Other forms show gender and grammatical role.

Form	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular, subject form	κανείς / κανένας	καμία / καμιά	κανένα
Singular, possessive/“of” form	κανενός	καμίας / καμιάς	κανενός
Singular, object form	κανέναν	καμία / καμιά	κανένα

Κανείς usually stands alone and refers to a person. Κανένας, καμία/καμιά, κανένα may stand alone or accompany a noun:

• Κανείς δεν απάντησε. — “No one answered.”
• Δεν είδα κανέναν. — “I didn’t see anyone.”
• Δεν έχω καμία ερώτηση. — “I don’t have any questions.”
• Δεν υπάρχει κανένα πρόβλημα. — “There is no problem.”

In a negative statement, put δεν before a verb in the indicative (the ordinary form used for facts and statements), and use the appropriate indefinite elsewhere. With prohibitions and certain dependent verb forms, Greek uses μη(ν) instead: Μην πεις τίποτα σε κανέναν (“Don’t say anything to anyone”).

In questions and conditional contexts, these forms can mean “anyone” or “any” without making the sentence negative:

• Είδε κανείς τον Νίκο; — “Did anyone see Nikos?”
• Αν έχεις κανένα πρόβλημα, πες μου. — “If you have any problem, tell me.”

Τίποτα: nothing or anything

Τίποτα is invariable: its form never changes. In negative statements it means “nothing” or English “anything” after a negative verb:

• Δεν άκουσα τίποτα. — “I didn’t hear anything.”
• Τίποτα δεν άλλαξε. — “Nothing changed.”

Notice that δεν remains necessary even when τίποτα comes before the verb. In a neutral question, τίποτα often means “anything”: Άκουσες τίποτα; (“Did you hear anything?”). In an affirmative statement it can also have an emphatic “anything at all” sense in suitable contexts, but beginners should first master its use in negatives and questions.

Κάθε: every, each

Κάθε is invariable and normally comes directly before a singular noun. The noun itself still takes the case required by the sentence.

• κάθε μέρα — “every day”
• κάθε άνθρωπος — “every person”
• σε κάθε πόλη — “in every city”

Do not add the definite article between κάθε and its noun: κάθε μέρα, not κάθε η μέρα. Although English distinguishes “each” and “every,” Greek κάθε covers much of both meanings. When the focus is strongly on each item separately, Greek may use the expression ο καθένας / η καθεμία / το καθένα (“each one”).

Όλος: all, whole, everyone, everything

Όλος behaves like an adjective: a describing word that agrees with the noun. The forms most useful at A2 are these:

Number	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	όλος	όλη	όλο
Plural	όλοι	όλες	όλα

With a definite noun, the usual pattern is όλος + article + noun:

• όλη η μέρα — “the whole day/all day”
• όλο το βιβλίο — “the whole book”
• όλοι οι φίλοι — “all the friends”
• όλες τις φωτογραφίες — “all the photos” (as an object)

The forms change further for grammatical role: for example, όλους τους φίλους (“all the friends” as an object), όλων των μαθητών (“of all the students”). Used without a noun, όλοι often means “everyone/all the people,” while neuter plural όλα means “everything.”

English “everyone” is grammatically singular, but Greek όλοι is plural and takes a plural verb: Όλοι ήρθαν (“Everyone came,” literally “All came”).

Examples in Context

Greek	English	Note
Κάποιος χτύπησε την πόρτα.	Someone knocked on the door.	Unidentified person; masculine default form
Μίλησα με κάποια από το γραφείο.	I spoke with someone from the office.	Female referent after με
Ψάχνουμε κάποιο ήσυχο μέρος.	We’re looking for somewhere quiet.	Literally “some quiet place”; neuter agreement
Κάτι μυρίζει πολύ ωραία.	Something smells very good.	Κάτι is invariable
Θέλεις κάτι να πιεις;	Do you want anything to drink?	Natural question with κάτι
Κανείς δεν ήξερε την απάντηση.	No one knew the answer.	Negative indefinite plus δεν
Δεν ξέρω τίποτα.	I don’t know anything.	Standard Greek negative agreement
Δεν βρήκαμε κανένα ανοιχτό φαρμακείο.	We didn’t find any open pharmacy.	Neuter object agrees with φαρμακείο
Είδε κανείς τα κλειδιά μου;	Did anyone see my keys?	Non-negative question
Μην πεις τίποτα σε κανέναν.	Don’t say anything to anyone.	Negative command with μην
Κάθε μέρα περπατάω στη θάλασσα.	Every day I walk by the sea.	Κάθε takes a singular noun
Κάθε παιδί πήρε ένα βιβλίο.	Each child received a book.	Members considered individually
Όλοι ήρθαν στην ώρα τους.	Everyone came on time.	Plural verb with όλοι
Διάβασα όλο το βιβλίο σε δύο μέρες.	I read the whole book in two days.	Όλο + definite article + noun
Όλα είναι έτοιμα.	Everything is ready.	Neuter plural used independently

Common Mistakes

Leaving out the negative verb word

• Wrong: Κανείς ήρθε.
• Right: Κανείς δεν ήρθε.
• Why: In standard Greek, κανείς meaning “no one” normally requires δεν with the verb. Greek negative agreement differs from standard English.

Using κάτι where a negative τίποτα is expected

• Wrong: Δεν κατάλαβα κάτι. (if you mean “I understood nothing”)
• Right: Δεν κατάλαβα τίποτα.
• Why: Κάτι usually points to “something.” In a broad negative meaning, τίποτα is the normal choice. The wrong version can instead suggest “There was something I didn’t understand,” depending on context.

Forgetting agreement with κάποιος

• Wrong: κάποιος γυναίκα
• Right: κάποια γυναίκα
• Why: Κάποιος changes to match the gender and grammatical role of its noun. Γυναίκα is feminine, so use κάποια.

Putting a plural noun after κάθε

• Wrong: κάθε μέρες
• Right: κάθε μέρα
• Why: Κάθε normally selects a singular noun, even though the phrase refers to repeated days or all members of a set.

Omitting the article after όλος with a definite noun

• Wrong: όλοι φίλοι ήρθαν (for “all the friends came”)
• Right: Όλοι οι φίλοι ήρθαν.
• Why: A definite group normally uses όλοι + definite article + noun. Without the article, the phrase does not express the intended standard pattern.

Treating όλοι like singular English “everyone”

• Wrong: Όλοι ήρθε.
• Right: Όλοι ήρθαν.
• Why: Όλοι is grammatically plural, so its verb must also be plural.

Usage Notes

Κανείς and κανένας overlap, but they are not always interchangeable in form. Κανείς is especially common when the word stands alone as a subject: Κανείς δεν ξέρει. Κανένας is the form used before a masculine noun: κανένας άνθρωπος. The feminine alternatives καμία and καμιά are both standard; καμιά is very common in speech.

Questions reveal an important difference between English and Greek. English often uses “some” when expecting yes and “any” in a neutral question. Greek does not match this split word for word. Θέλεις κάτι; is the ordinary way to offer something, whereas Είδε κανείς...; naturally asks whether anyone did something. Learn the whole phrase and its conversational purpose rather than replacing every English “any” with one fixed Greek word.

Όλος can refer either to completeness or to an entire group. Singular όλο το κέικ means “the whole cake”; plural όλα τα κέικ means “all the cakes.” In everyday speech, όλη μέρα may be heard for “all day,” but όλη τη μέρα is the fuller standard pattern when saying “throughout the whole day.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of these contrasts at A2, but you will meet them frequently later.

Word order can add emphasis. Δεν ήρθε κανείς is a neutral “No one came,” while Κανείς δεν ήρθε puts “no one” first and may emphasize the complete absence. Similarly, Τίποτα δεν συνέβη foregrounds “nothing.” The negative marker remains with the verb in either order.

In an affirmative clause, κανείς can acquire the broad meaning “anyone” in general statements: Ο καθένας μπορεί να μάθει, αν προσπαθήσει (“Anyone can learn if they try”) is often expressed with ο καθένας, while κανείς μπορεί... is possible in more restricted or stylistically marked patterns. For clear everyday Greek, learn ο καθένας for “each person/anyone in general” and reserve bare κανείς mainly for questions, conditions, and negatives.

Greek also builds related indefinite words with κάπο-, such as κάπου (“somewhere”), κάποτε (“sometime/once”), and κάπως (“somehow”). Their negative or question counterparts include πουθενά (“nowhere/anywhere”) and ποτέ (“never/ever”). They follow a similar polarity pattern—the choice between affirmative, interrogative, and negative contexts—but each deserves study as part of the wider indefinite system.

Finally, κάτι has conversational uses beyond literal “something.” Κάτι τέτοιο means “something like that,” and κάτι άλλο; means “anything else?” In informal speech, phrases such as κάτι ξέρω κι εγώ can carry pragmatic shades such as modesty or insistence (“I know a thing or two as well”). These are best learned from context rather than translated word for word.

Practice Tips

1. Make three short sentence sets from the same situation: affirmative with κάποιος/κάτι, a question with κανείς/τίποτα, and a negative answer with δεν + κανείς/τίποτα. For example: Κάποιος τηλεφώνησε. Είπε κανείς το όνομά του; Δεν άκουσα τίποτα.
2. Practice agreement by attaching one noun of each gender to κάποιος, κανένας, and όλος: κάποιος φίλος, κάποια φίλη, κάποιο παιδί. Then turn each into an object phrase so you notice forms such as κάποιον φίλο.
3. Listen for complete chunks rather than isolated words: κανείς δεν, δεν...τίποτα, κάθε μέρα, όλοι οι, and όλο το. These patterns make the correct article, negation, and agreement easier to recall automatically.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — review how Greek pronouns identify people and how their form relates to their role in a sentence.