Something for Everyone, Anywhere.
© 2016 Christopher DiMatteo. All Rights Reserved.
These words – something – everyone – anywhere – are examples of compound pronouns and adverbs that are part of a family of words that we will look at here.
This version of this chapter also has the notes for Italian students, and Italian translations of the examples, in italics.
The compound pronouns and adverbs have two parts:
HEAD + TAIL
every one, body
some where, place
any thing
no day / time
The HEADs are pronoun/adjectives.
The TAILs are nouns or pronouns.
Put one of each together to form these very common Pronoun-Adverbs:
every + one = everyone ognuno, tutti
some + where = somewhere da qualche parte
any + body = anybody qualsiasi persona, chiunque
no + thing = nothing niente, nessuna cosa
The only two exceptions to these combinations are that we do not make the words “no day” or “no time”; instead use the word never.
Notice that there four prefixes, but two of the suffix meanings have synonyms: one = body, where = place. Thus,
ex)
someone = somebody
anywhere = anyplace etc.
Look at this family of words organized on two lists, organized by their prefixes, then organized by their suffixes.
Compound pronouns and adverbs, by their front part:
every-
everyone, everybody ognuno, tutti
everywhere, everyplace dovunque, da tutte le parti
everything ogni cosa, tutto
every day * ogni giorno
every time* ogni volta, tutte le volte
some-
someone, somebody qualcuno, una persona (indefinita)
somewhere, someplace da qualche parte
something qualche cosa, qualcosa
someday un giorno o l’altro, prima o poi
sometime una volta o l’altra, futuro indifinito
sometimes certe volte
some time* un po’ do tempo
any-
anyone, anybody
chiunque (affermativo),
nessuno, qualcuno (interrogativo e negativo)
anywhere, anyplace
dovunque, da qualsiasi parte (aff.),
da qualche parte (inter.)
da nessuna parte (neg.)
anything qualsiasi cosa (aff.), niente (inter. e neg.)
any day * in qualsiasi momento,”uno qualsiasi di questi giorni”
any time * in qualsiasi momento, “una qualsiasi di queste volte”
no-
nobody, no one * nessuno, nessuna persona
noplace, nowhere da nessun parte, in nessun luogo
nothing nulla, niente, nessuna cosa
never∆ mai
Compound pronouns and adverbs, by the back part:
. -one, -body
everyone, everybody tutti, ognuno
someone, somebody qualquno
anyone, anybody chiunque, qualsiasi persona (aff.)
qualcuno (inter.), nessuno (neg.)
no one *, nobody nessuno
. -where, -place
everywhere, everyplace dovunque, da tutte le parti
somewhere, someplace da qualche parte, in qualche luogo
anywhere, anyplace da qualsiasi parte
nowhere, noplace da nessuna parte
. -thing
everything tutto, ogni cosa
something qualcosa, qualche cosa
anything qualsiasi cosa, qualunque cosa
nothing niente, nulla, nessuna cosa
. -day
every day* ogni giorno
some day* un giorno (futuro indefinito)
any day* qualunque giorno
never ∆ mai
. -time
every time* ogni volta
sometime in qualche momento (futuro indefinito)
sometimes ogni tanto, certe volte,
some time* un po’ di tempo
any time* in qualsiasi momento, “quando vuoi”
* Questi composti rimangono due parole separate.
∆ no con day e time mica formano “no day” e “no time”; never significa “mai”.
Compound pronouns and adjectives and the word else.
The adjective else means “other” or “more” when used in these cases:
- after compound pronouns and adjectives
- after interrogative pronouns
Something else…Some other thing
else after compound pronouns and adjectives:
Everyone else is ready.
Tutti gli altri sono pronti.
I want something else.
Voglio qualcos’altra.
I’ll go anywhere else, but not there.
Andro’ da qualsiasi parte, ma non la’.
Is there anything else to see?
C’é qualcos’altra da vedere?
If nobody else wants to do it, I will.
Se nessun’altro vuole farlo, lo faro’ io.
When one of these compounds is followed by else, it has the same meaning as putting the word “other” between the prefix and the suffix:
everyone else, everybody else = every other person
something else = some other thing
anywhere else = any other thing
nobody else, no one else = no other person
The word elsewhere means “somewhere else”
altrove, in qualche altro luogo
Elsewhere is the same as “somewhere else”, and it is the only word where else is attached as a prefix to one of the other parts.
else after interrogative pronouns
After interrogative pronouns (who, what, where, how, etc.), the word else means “other (thing, person, place, time, day)”:
What else do you want? Che cos’altro vuoi?
Where else have you been? In quali altri posti sei stato?
Who else did you meet there? Quali altre persone ci hai incontrato?
How else can we do it? In quale altro modo lo possiamo fare?
I don’t know where else to look. Non so dove cercare ancora.
It’s hard to know what else to do. E’ difficile sapere che cosa fare ora.
the expression “or else!”
Or else! is used as a threat. Like “Altrimenti…!”. The threatened consequence can be specified or unspecified. Here is the threat specified:
I have to finish this job by Friday, or else I won’t get paid for it!
Devo finire questo lavoro per Venerdi’, se non, non me lo pagano.
You have to write clearly, or else we’ll never be able to read it.
Devi scrivere ligibilmente, se non, non saremo mai in grado di leggerlo.
Here is the threat unspecified:
Finish this job by Friday, or else!
Finisci questo lavoro entro Venerdi’, altrimenti…!
You have to come home by midnight, or else…!
Devi tornare a casa entro mezzanotte, altrimenti guai a te!
Negations and questions with compounds:
Refer to the lesson on the use of some and any in sentences which are negations or questions. Negations or questions which use compound pronouns and adverbs with some- and any- follow the same rules for some and any used alone.
(Refer also to the double negative.)
Here are some examples of questions and negative sentences where compound pronouns and adverbs with some- and any- are used:
I don’t want to see anybody.
Non voglio vedere nessuno.
Did you see anybody?
Hai visto qualcuno?
She said she didn’t want to go anywhere else, so I took her home.
Lei mi disse che non voleva andare da qualche altra parte, e allora l’ho portata a casa.
“But” is a synonym for “except”
These five compound pronouns and adverbs, when followed by the word but, and then by a noun, are synonyms for the word “except:”
anything but tutt’altro che
anywhere but dovunque tranne
anyone but chiunque tranne
nothing but soltanto, non…che
nobody but soltanto, nessuno tranne
Examples:
Anything but that!
Tutto, ma non quello!
Anyone but him!
Chiunque tranne lui!
Anywhere but there!
Ovunque, ma non la”!
Anyone but her!
Chiunque, ma non lei!
You should stay away from those guys, they’re nothing but trouble.
Dovresti stare alla larga di quei tipi, sono soltanto un sacco di guai.
This job is anything but peaceful. The hours are long, and the goddamn phone never stops ringing.
Questo lavoro é tutt’altro che tranquillo. Le ore sono lunghe, e il maledetto telefono non smette mai di squillare.
Everyone and everybody, and the Italian words “ognuno” and “tutti”.
Quasi sempre, dove l’italiano usa “ognuno” o “tutti” con il senso di ‘ognuno’, l’inglese usa everyone o everybody, e mai usa “all” da solo, che é un errore tipico degli italiani. Questo errore, che stona abbastanza, é un esempio del fenomeno dell’interferenza. Specificamente, dimostra la tendenza a rimanere fissato sull’idea che una sola parola inglese (“all”) vale al posto di un suo corrispondente italiano (“ognuno” o “tutti”), dimenticando che spesso non esistono queste perfette corrispondenze fra tutti i sensi di due parole che per molti altri sensi sono da considerare equivalenti. Il legame mentale é che si ha l’idea che “all” significa “tutti”, e poi si crede di poter dire “all” quando si direbbe “ognuno” o “tutti” in italiano. “Tutti”, nel senso di “ognuno”, non si traduce con il solo “all”. Se vuoi usare “all”, dev’essere preceduto da un pronome soggetto, e prendera’ un verbo plurale. Everyone o everybody prendono verbi al singolare.
Vuoi dire:
Tutti sanno che l’ha sposato per i soldi.
The typical Italian mistake is to say in English:
“All know that she married him for his money”
The right way to say this is:
Everyone knows that she married him for his money.”
or “They all know that she married him for his money.”
Everyone is sick of hearing about political corruption.
Ognuno é stufo di sentire della corruzione politica.
They are all sick of hearing about political corruption.
Sono tutti stufi di sentire della corruzione politica.
Some– and any– with –way and –how
These combinations also form compound adverbs:
somehow in qualche modo
some way ”
anyhow ad ogni modo, comunque
any way ” ”
The formation of these four adverbs is similar to the formation of the other compound pronouns and adverbs which they resemble, but these four adverbs are not used in the same ways as the other ones. They are not used with the words else or but, or in negative sentences.