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Något/någon

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Will709432

Något/någon

Post by Will709432 »

Is there a rule governing when to use någon/något in place of en/ett. Grammar books give very little on this

In this sentence from book I'm reading:

...tror jag inte att hon blir någon lämplig hustru åt mig.

I'd have probably written .. blir en lämplig...

So how do we know when to use någon/något in place of en/ett? I'm aware it can mean any, someone, etc, but here it seems just to replace the en of hustru.

Żar
Poland

Re: Något/någon

Post by Żar »

There generally isn’t a big difference between “a” and “any” in negative sentences, like “I don’t see a cat” vs “I don’t see any cat”; it’s just a small nuance.

It’s exactly the same principle in Swedish - “hon blir inte en lämplig hustru” (she won’t become a suitable wife) vs “hon blir inte någon lämplig hustru” (she won’t become any kind of suitable wife); the second sentence is just a bit more confident or dismissive.

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Will709432

Re: Något/någon

Post by Will709432 »

Żar wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:42 pm

Thanks, yes I see this done a lot with negative sentences.

But it still leaves me wondering why use it to replace en/ett in normal sentences, like this from the same book:

Collins fick något ivrigt i blicken.

Unless this means something eager in his eyes/gaze and not an eagerness in his eyes/gaze, rather this det var något ivrigt i Collins ögon. But then why not write it that way?

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