I was recently exchanging emails with a Russian pen-pal who wanted to arrange a time to talk via Skype, but was lamenting the difficulties because of the difference in time zones. I wanted to say, “I can suggest something.” and I wrote “Я могу вам что–то посоветовать.”. He wrote back and corrected my Russian by saying, “Я могу вам кое–что посоветовать.” I had seen this кое–что a couple of times, and it basically seemed to translate to the same thing as что–то. So I asked my Russian teacher and she advised me that it’s one of those very difficult things to explain. :-) She said that you might say, “Кое–кто“, when you are talking to someone else who would know what you mean, but you don’t want to say the name — perhaps because you are in a room of people, so you’d say, “There’s a certain someone that likes you.” and in that context you’d use Кое–кто. Well — I sort of got it, but not entirely.
I’ve been in touch with Slava Paperno, who is an amazing guy. He teaches Russian at Cornell and has written and/or been part of creating some of the most amazing resources for students of Russian. The link I have to the Russian Dictionary Tree is Slava’s work. Just the other day I received his new Advanced Russian DVD, which is amazingly cool. I strongly recommend that you follow the link and check it out. My favorite part of the disc is Slava’s detailed techniques for reading. I think it’s a brilliant approach. Check it out!
Anyway, I asked Slava about что–то and кое–что. How do they differ? How do I know when to use one or the other? Slava very generously wrote some great examples, and kindly gave me permission to share them.
You asked about the difference between что–то and кое–что in contexts like
Я могу вам что–то посоветовать.
Я могу вам кое–что посоветовать.
1) The difference is subtle and no misunderstanding is likely to take place if you use one vs. the other. Statistically speaking, что–то is the “default” (more common, neutral) word, and кое–что is a word you use when you have a reason for doing so.
2) кое-что is very rarely used in questions or negative statements. Reserve this word for affirmative statements only.
3) Both words map to the English “something” as in: I bought you something. I want to tell you something. Something is not clear to me.
4) Кое-что can occasionally be used with an adjective, but most of the time it is not. Thus in “Something awful happened today.” most Russians would not use кое-что. They would use что-то or (the better educated ones) нечто.
5) кое-что can be declined just like что-то: кое-чему; кое-чем; кое-чего.
6) When кое-что is used with a preposition, the preposition is infixed: кое о чём; кое с чем;
7) Now the reason for using кое-что rather than что-то.
“Кое-что” implies that the referent has a special significance in the given context. There’s a slight emphasis on the referent (whereas with что-то, there’s none). The referent is not just any old thing–it is something you want to pay attention to.
For example, if I bought an unexpected present for my wife, and I want her to feel that special anticipation as she waits for my next sentence, I will not say, “Я тебе что–то купил.” I’d say, “Я тебе кое–что купил.” But if I picked up an (unasked-for) new toothbrush for her when I was out grocery shopping, I’m likely to say, as I unload the packages onto the counter, “Я тебе что–то купил. Вот, новую зубную щетку.” If I found a strange object in the refrigerator, and I don’t know what it is, but there’s no special reason to be alarmed or excited, I’m likely to say, “Я что–то нашёл в холодильнике, и я не понимаю, что это и откуда оно взыалось. However, if I found that precious bottle of champagne that we misplaced last Christmas, I’m more likely to say, “Я кое–что нашёл в холодильнике. Хочешь знать, что я нашёл?“
If someone told me something, and I couldn’t hear or understand what it was, I might say, “Он мне что–то сказал, но я не расслышал.” On the other hand, if someone tells me an important secret, and I’m itching to re-tell it, but I can’t yet, I’d say, “Он мне кое–что сказал, и теперь я не знаю, что делать.”
Sometimes, the strange English phrase “a little something” can be equivalent to кое-что (but not to что-то). For many other situations, English probably doesn’t have an exact equivalent. A good translator will use something like “a curious thing,” “an odd fact,” “an interesting detail,” etc.
In your correspondence about timing your Skype sessions, the advice with кое-что (я могу тебе кое–что посоветовать) would sound much less interesting or potentially useful if что-то were used instead. I would lift my index finger as I said “кое-что посоветовать.” If I were admonishing my wife for smoking that cigarette in my study, I could even wag a finger: “Я хочу тебе кое–что напомнить: мы договорились, что ты здесь курить не будешь!“
Кое-кто is very similar. Кое-где/кое-куда can also be used in exactly the same way (Он кое–где побывал в воскресенье, и боюсь, что он там подхватил нехорошую болезнь.), but it also has an additional meaning of “here and there” (кое–где ещё лежал снег). Кое-когда mostly means “every now and then.”
Кое–кто из вас не получит на экзамене хорошие отметки. Certain individuals in this room will not get a good grade at the final exam.
Кто–то из вас не погасил свет вчера. One of you forgot to turn off the light yesterday.
Thank you, Slava. These examples, I think, really help to illustrate a subtle concept.
