Indefinite Pronouns— B1 Grammar Exercises

The phone rings, but you don't recognise the number: Someone is calling me. You open the fridge: There's nothing to eat. A friend asks about your weekend: I didn't do anything special. You look around a crowded square: Everyone is taking photos. All four sentences use indefinite pronouns: short words you use when you don't know, don't need to say, or want to talk about a person, thing, or place in general terms.

Indefinite pronouns are built from two parts: some, any, no, or every on the front, and -one / -body, -thing, or -where on the back. Once you learn the pattern, you can build all twelve forms automatically.

The full pattern

For people, -one and -body mean exactly the same thing. Someone = somebody, anyone = anybody. Choose whichever sounds natural. -body is slightly more informal but both are used everywhere.

One small refinement: although the verb is singular, the pronoun that follows is usually they / their / them in modern English, because you don't know if the person is male or female.

• Everyone has their own opinion.
• Has anyone left their bag in the room?
• If someone calls, tell them I'm out.

Some- words: positive sentences

Use some- words in positive sentences when you talk about a person, thing, or place but don't say exactly which one, either because you don't know, or because it doesn't matter.

• Someone left a bag in the classroom.
• I need to tell you something important.
• Let's go somewhere warm for our holiday.
• Somebody is knocking at the door.
• There's something in my shoe.

Some- in questions: offers and requests

Although some- is normally for positive sentences, you use it in questions when you make an offer or a request: when you expect or hope the answer will be yes.

• Would you like something to drink? (offer)
• Can someone help me with this box? (request)
• Could I have something to eat, please?

The same logic applies to ordinary questions when the speaker already thinks the answer is "yes". Compare: Did someone call you? (the speaker thinks yes; maybe they heard the phone) vs Did anyone call you? (neutral, no idea either way).

Any- words: questions and negatives

Use any- words in questions (when you don't know the answer) and in negative sentences.

Any- meaning "it doesn't matter which"

Any- words also work in positive sentences with the meaning "it doesn't matter which one". This use is common at A2 and very useful.

• You can sit anywhere you like.
• Anyone can learn English with practice.
• I'll eat anything; I'm so hungry.

No- words: negative meaning, positive form

Use no- words to make a sentence negative, but the verb itself stays positive. This is the trickiest part of the topic for many learners.

• Nobody called me yesterday.
• I have nothing to wear tonight.
• There's nowhere to park around here.
• No one knows the answer.

No- words tend to sound a bit stronger or more emphatic than not... any-. Both are correct.

There's also a small positional pattern: no- words appear most naturally at the start of a sentence or right after be, while not... any- is more common in the middle of a sentence. Compare:

• Nobody answered the phone. (start of sentence; no- is natural)
• I didn't see anybody at the meeting. (middle of sentence; not... any- is natural)

Every- words: all, without exception

Use every- words to talk about all the people, all the things, or every place: no exceptions.

• Everyone in my family loves pizza.
• She told me everything about the trip.
• I looked everywhere for my keys.
• Everybody was happy at the party.

Remember: even though everyone feels like "many people", the verb is singular.

• Everyone is ready.
• Everything was perfect.

Adjectives after indefinite pronouns

When you add an adjective, it comes after the pronoun, not before. This is the opposite of normal English word order.

• I'm looking for something cheap for dinner.
• Let's go somewhere quiet to talk.
• I met someone interesting at the conference.
• There's nothing new on the menu.

Signal words for the form choice

If you're not sure whether to use some-, any-, no-, or every-, look at the sentence:

• Positive sentence → some- (or every- for "all")
• Question → any- (or some- if it's an offer or request)
• Negative sentence → any- (with not) or no- (alone)
• "All, without exception" → every-
• "It doesn't matter which" → any-

Every- vs any-: a common confusion

These two can look almost identical in a positive sentence, but they mean different things. Every- talks about all the people, things, or places: no exceptions. Any- in a positive sentence means "it doesn't matter which one, pick any". Compare:

• Everyone can come to the party. (all the people will come, the whole group)
• Anyone can come to the party. (it doesn't matter who; the invitation is open)
• I tried everything on the menu. (I tried every single dish)
• I'll try anything on the menu. (I'm not picky; pick any dish)

Common mistakes

Some- vs any- vs no- at a glance

Quick summary

Related topics

• Some and any: the same logic with countable and uncountable nouns.
• Quantifiers: much, many, a lot, a few for amounts.
• Personal pronouns: I, you, he, she and the basics of pronoun use.