# Кто из туристов говорит по-вьетнамски?



## mimi2

Hi,
"Кто из туристов говорит по вьетнамски?"
Please tell me if it is a correct question?
Thanks.


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## Maroseika

mimi2 said:


> Hi,
> "Кто из туристов говорит по-вьетнамски?"
> Please tell me if it is a correct question?
> Thanks.


Yes - except the missed hyphen.


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## Q-cumber

Technically the question is fine. Though,_ as always_, it depends on the particular context whether or not this question is appropriate. Please note that this is a "third-party" question, so to speak. I mean that you can ask it regarding some tourists that are not here at the moment. Should you conversate with the tourists in person, you'd rather use "кто из вас..." <which one of you...implies you are somewhat certain that some tourists speak Vietnamese> or "кто-нибудь из вас..." <is (does) here anyone...>   variant.
    In the situation provided you can't ask "кто из туристов..." .... well, you can, and some natives certainly could, but such a question would sound kinda ignorant.


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## mimi2

Thank you, Maroseika.
Thank you, Q-cumber, for your clear explanation.
It helped me use the sentence correctly. Very helpful indeed.
Thanks.


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## Q-cumber

You are welcome!


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## tkekte

Also, it's better to say "кто-нибудь" instead of "кто", because using "кто" implies there must be at least one person who speaks Vietnamese. It also sounds a bit rude because of the "из вас" bit, I will try to show you the difference in English:

Кто из вас говорит по-вьетнамски?
Which one of you speaks Vietnamese?

Кто-нибудь из вас говорит по-вьетнамски?
Does anyone out of you speak Vietnamese?
(still kinda rude..)

Извините, кто-нибудь говорит по-вьетнамски?
Excuse me, does someone speak Vietnamese?
(this is the good question to use )

Кто говорит по-вьетнамски?
Who speaks Vietnamese?
(you might ask this if you are already in friendly relations with the people you're asking, it sounds kind of friendly/cheerful. Like "who wants to play poker?" That kind of intonation.)

Hope this helps.


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## mimi2

Thank you, tkekte, very much for your further explanation.
Also helpful to me.


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## Q-cumber

Hi *tkekte*!

I generally second your opinion, yet I see nothing rude in the question "Кто-нибудь из вас говорит по-вьетнамски?"


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## tkekte

I don't know, but it sounds a bit aloof to me. "Кто-нибудь из вас". As if you are putting yourself above the group of people you're speaking to.


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## cheshire

Can we use "кто-нибудь" for animals? For example, imagine a person speaking to her dogs: Which one of you like to eat frogs? Or should we use other words?


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## tkekte

Yes, but since those are her own dogs, it would be natural for her to use the friendly/cheerful register. "Кто хочет лягушек?"

"Кто-нибудь" can be used also, but then it would sound kinda ironic, as if she is being courteous with her dogs. 

There is also the word "кто-то", which fits in the friendly register, but means "someone/anyone" (sometimes you need to distinguish "who" from "someone")
For example, you have a big bowl of spaghetti with sauce, so you ask your family members:
Кто-то хочет спагетти?
(Anyone wants spaghetti?)

But I think it's better to use "кто-нибудь" if you're treating your guests (who aren't your close friends).


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## cheshire

(1) Кто-*то* хочет спагетти? Does *some one* want spaghetti?
(2) Кто-*нибудь　*хочет спагетти? Does *anyone* want spaghetti?​Thanks tkekte!
What about my understanding above?


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## Q-cumber

cheshire said:


> (1) Кто-*то* хочет спагетти? Does *some one* want spaghetti?
> (2) Кто-*нибудь* хочет спагетти? Does *anyone* want spaghetti?​Thanks tkekte!
> What about my understanding above?



Hi *cheshire*! 

 These pronouns - *Кто-то* and *кто-нибудь* have nearly the same meaning in the context provided.  They are pretty interchangeable here. A wording *Кто хочет спагетти?* would mean exactly: Does *"any particular person"* want spaghetti?

PS However, your understanding is generally correct. 
*кто-нибудь* (somebody/anybody) - any person, doesn't matter who
*кто-то* - somebody - some certian person, not yet known
*кто* - who, which


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## tkekte

It's not limited to just one person, btw. Кто = who/which, from one person and up. Кто-то/кто-нибудь = an unknown number of people, can be zero as well.

The difference between кто-нибудь and кто-то is not exactly the same as "someone" and "anyone" in English. In the spaghetii context, they're interchangeable, except using кто-нибудь makes it sound more polite and distant.

Here is an example where there is a difference in meaning:
Кто-то стоит за дверью?
Is someone standing behind the door? (you sense someone's presence and you're asking another person to confirm your suspicions)

Кто-нибудь стоит за дверью?
Is anyone standing behind the door? (you know that someone is supposed to stand there, and you are asking another person whether someone does)

Sigh.. it's hard to explain.

Another example. Imagine you're entering an empty building:
Есть здесь кто-нибудь?
Is there anybody here? (you don't know whethere there is or not)

Здесь кто-то есть?
Is someone here? (you have a reasonable suspicion there is someone in there (maybe you heard something))


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## palomnik

Cheshire, tketke is right when he indicates that the whole _кто-нибудь/кто-то_ business is a bit muddled when going into English. Here's the simplest version I've ever run across, although there's no substitute for getting the right "feel" for the two:

All other things being equal, use _кто-нибудь_ in a question: _Кто-нибудь звонил?_ Did somebody/anybody call?

Likewise with a command: _Дайте ему что-нибудь выпить_ – Give him something to drink.

And also with verbs in the future: _Кто-нибудь, наверно, принесёт вина_ – Somebody will probably bring wine.

You normally use _кто-то_ with verbs in the past: _Кто-то звонил_ – Somebody called.

In the present, you will more likely use _кто-то_, but if you can substitute "somebody or another" in English you will probably use _Кто-нибудь: Кто-то стучит_ – Somebody’s knocking. _По субботам к нам всегда кто-нибудь приходит_ – On Saturday somebody always comes to see us.

And of course, quite often "anybody" won't translate by either word: _Всякий может это делать_ - anybody can do it. _Это со всяком может случиться_ - that can happen to anybody.  These last two show that Кто-нибудь doesn't really equate with "anybody" in the general English sense.


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## Q-cumber

A minor correction:


palomnik said:


> . _Это со всяким может случиться_ - that can happen to anybody.





> All other things being equal, use кто-нибудь in a question: Кто-нибудь звонил? Did somebody/anybody call?



In fact, both *кто-нибудь* and *кто-то* can be safely used in such a question: *Мне кто-нибудь звонил? * or  *Мне кто-то звонил? *  I see no noticeable semantic difference between these.

* Кто мне звонил?* variant also can be safely used for the purpose, especially by a person that often receive calls (a manager, etc.)


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## palomnik

Q-cumber said:


> A minor correction:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In fact, both *кто-нибудь* and *кто-то* can be safely used in such a question: *Мне кто-нибудь звонил? *or *Мне кто-то звонил? *I see no noticeable semantic difference between these.
> 
> *Кто мне звонил?* variant also can be safely used for the purpose, especially by a person that often receive calls (a manager, etc.)


 
Thanks for the correction and I'll bear in mind the note about *Мне кто-то звонил? *vs. *Мне кто-нибудь звонил? *I always thought that *Мне кто-то звонил? *implied that you were expecting a call.


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## Q-cumber

palomnik said:


> Thanks for the correction and I'll bear in mind the note about *Мне кто-то звонил? *vs. *Мне кто-нибудь звонил? *I always thought that *Мне кто-то звонил? *implied that you were expecting a call.



Speaking generally, these two words share the same meaning and usage in colloquial conversations, with some obvious exceptions. 
Getting back to your sample phrases:

*Кто-нибудь, наверное, принесёт вина* and *Кто-то, наверное, принесёт вина*. Both variants are fine. Some tiny seamantic overtones don't even worth mentioning.  

*Кто-то звонил.* – _Somebody called._ This is the only option, indeed. *Кто-нибудь звонил.*  would just sound wrong. 

* Кто-то стучит.*  *Кто-нибудь стучит..*  

*По субботам к нам всегда кто-нибудь приходит.*  *По субботам к нам всегда кто-то приходит*.


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## Ptak

Q-cumber said:


> *Кто-нибудь звонил.*  would just sound wrong.


Indeed, but "*Кто-нибудь звонил?*" (as a question) sounds ok.


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