Chapter 310Allen and Greenough's Latin GrammarDickinson CollegeChristopher Francese
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Quis
,
quispiam
,
aliquis
,
quīdam
, are
particular indefinites
, meaning
some
,
a certain, any.
Of these,
quis
,
any one
, is least definite, and
quīdam
,
a certain one
, most definite;
aliquis
and
quispiam
,
some one
, stand between the two:—
dīxerit
quis
(
quispiam
),
some one may say.aliquī
philosophī ita putant
,
some philosophers think so.
[
quīdam
would mean
certain persons
defined to the speaker's mind, though not named.]
habitant hīc
quaedam
mulierēs pauperculae
(Ter. Ad. 647)
,
some poor women live here
[i.e. some women he knows of;
some women or other
would be
aliquae
or
nesciō quae
].
The indefinite
quis
is rare except in the combinations
sī quis
,
if any;nisi quis
,
if any ... not;nē quis
,
lest any, in order that none;num quis
(
ecquis
),
whether any;
and in relative clauses.
The compounds
quispiam
and
aliquis
are often used instead of
quis
after
sī
,
nisi
,
nē
, and
num
, and are rather more emphatic:—
quid sī hōc
quispiam
voluit deus
(Ter. Eun. 875)
,
what if some god had desired this?
nisi
alicui
suōrum negōtium daret
(Nep. Dion. 8.2),
unless he should employ some one of his friends.
cavēbat Pompêius omnia, nē
aliquid
vōs timērētis
(Mil. 66)
,
Pompey took every precaution, so that you might have no fear.