Someone, anyone, no one

After this page you will be able to say someone, something, somewhere and some day, and anyone, anything, anywhere. You will know the difference between хтось (someone) and будь-хто́ (anyone at all), how these words change their form (хтось → кого́сь), and how to spell them: together, with a hyphen, or as separate words.

Built from question words

Ukrainian makes these words from the question words you know from Questions: хто, що, де, коли́, куди́, яки́й. A small part added at the start or the end changes the meaning.

The words with ні- belong to negation: they go with не before the verb, as in Ніхто́ не зна́є. (Nobody knows.) This page is about the other columns.

-сь: someone in particular

The ending -сь means a particular person, thing, place or time that the speaker does not know or does not name. The dictionary defines хтось as «невідомо хто; той, кого не можуть або не хочуть назвати»: “someone unknown; someone they cannot or do not want to name” [src: goroh-dictionary].

Коли́сь usually points to the past (“once, at one time”), but it can also mean “at some time” in general [src: goroh-dictionary].

будь-, -небудь, -будь and аби-: it doesn’t matter who

These parts mean that the choice does not matter. The dictionary defines будь-хто́ as «все одно (байдуже) хто; всякий» (no matter who; anyone) and хто-не́будь as «яка-небудь людина, байдуже хто» (some person, no matter who) [src: goroh-dictionary]. In practice:

• будь-хто́, будь-що́, будь-коли stress the free choice: anyone at all, anything at all, at any time you like.
• хто-не́будь, що-не́будь, коли́-не́будь mean someone or other, anything: any one will do. They suit questions and requests, where the person or thing is not known yet.

Compare -сь and -небудь in a question. Хтось дзвони́в? asks about a particular call: Did someone call? Хто-не́будь дзвони́в? asks more openly: Did anyone call? The difference is small, and both are correct.

Less common forms

• хто-бу́дь, що-бу́дь (with -будь at the end) mean much the same as хто-не́будь: «не має значення, байдуже хто» (it doesn’t matter who) [src: goroh-dictionary].
• аби́хто, аби́що also mean “anyone, anything”, often “just anyone, anything at all”, and the dictionary explains аби́хто as «будь-хто, хто-небудь, кожний» [src: goroh-dictionary]. One of its examples has аби́ з ким не: not with just anyone.

Дехто and дещо: some people, a few things

Де́хто is not “someone” but “some people”: the dictionary defines it as «деякі люди, невелика група людей із числа інших» (some people, a small group among others) [src: goroh-dictionary]. The verb is singular. Де́що means “something, a few things”.

How they change their form

Only the part that comes from хто, що or яки́й changes, in the same way as the question word in all cases. The added part stays as it is: -сь at the end, будь- and де- at the start.

The forms in the table are from the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary], apart from the short instrumentals кимсь and чимсь, which are from the orthography [src: pravopys-2026, §114]. The locative is always used after a preposition; with будь- the preposition goes in the middle (see below). Note the stress: the dative is кому́сь, but the locative is ко́мусь. The instrumental has a short form too: кимсь (also ки́мось), чимсь (also чи́мось) [src: pravopys-2026, §114]. Хто-не́будь changes the same way: кого́-не́будь, кому́-не́будь, ким-не́будь.

With a preposition

When a preposition is used with будь-, де-, аби- or ні-, it usually goes between the two parts, and the words are then written separately: будь у ко́го, будь на чо́му [src: pravopys-2026, §39]; ні з ким, ні до ко́го [src: pravopys-2026, §44]; де з ким, аби́ з ким [src: goroh-dictionary]. With -сь and -небудь the preposition simply comes first: з кимось, про що-не́будь.

Spelling: together, hyphen or apart

The orthography sorts these words by the part that is added [src: pravopys-2026, §39, §41, §44]:

• Together: the orthography lists аби́хто, де́хто, де́що, хтось, щось, яки́йсь [src: pravopys-2026, §39], and adverbs with -сь such as десь, коли́сь, куди́сь, якось [src: pravopys-2026, §44]. The negative ніхто́, ніщо́, нія́кий, ніде́ are also one word [src: pravopys-2026, §44].
• Hyphen: будь-хто́, будь-що́, хто-бу́дь, хто-не́будь, що-не́будь [src: pravopys-2026, §39], and adverbs such as будь-де, будь-коли, коли́-не́будь, куди́-не́будь [src: pravopys-2026, §41].
• Apart: when a preposition stands between the parts: будь у ко́го, ка́зна з ким [src: pravopys-2026, §39], ні в ко́го, ні з ким [src: pravopys-2026, §44].

Words with ка́зна-, хто́зна- and бо́зна- mean roughly “who knows who, goodness knows what”: ка́зна-що́, бо́зна-що́ [src: goroh-dictionary].

Anyone in a negative sentence: ні-

English uses anyone, anything, ever after not. Ukrainian uses the ні- words there, together with не. See negation.

Common mistakes and limits