неко / нешто / негде

Someone Something and Somewhere

Level 2Sounds Like neko; nešto; negde

The words неко (someone), нешто (something), and негде (somewhere) refer to specific but unidentified entities or locations. They are built by attaching the prefix не- to question words.

How It Works

Use неко, нешто, and негде when referring to someone, something, or somewhere indefinite:

  • неко (someone / somebody): Refers to an unspecified person. It declines like the question pronoun ко (Genitive/Accusative: некога / неког, Dative/Locative: некоме / неком, Instrumental: неким) and takes 3rd-person singular verbs.
  • нешто (something / somewhat): Refers to an unspecified object or event. It can also act as an adverb meaning 'a bit' or 'slightly'. It declines like шта (Nominative/Accusative: нешто, Genitive: нечега, Dative/Locative: нечему, Instrumental: нечим).
  • негде (somewhere): An invariant adverb denoting an unspecified location (answering где?). In standard Serbian, direction or destination (answering куда?) is expressed by некуда ('to somewhere'), though everyday speech sometimes blurs this distinction.

Crucial Preposition Rule:
Do not split indefinite words starting with не-. While Serbian splits negative pronouns with prepositions (such as ни са ким), не- indefinites remain whole:
• са неким (with someone) — NOT не са ким
• од некога (from someone) — NOT не од кога
• о нечему (about something) — NOT не о чему

Nuance in Questions:
Asking a question with неко (e.g., Је ли неко звао?) implies that you suspect or expect that someone actually did call, whereas polarity words like ико remain neutral or skeptical.

Examples (4)

  1. Неко куца на врата.

    Someone is knocking on the door.

    Word by Word: Someone knocks on door.

    Demonstrates неко as the singular subject of the sentence.

  2. Желим нешто да те питам.

    I want to ask you something.

    Word by Word: I-want something to you I-ask.

    Here нешто acts as the direct object of the verb.

  3. Оставио сам кључеве негде у соби.

    I left the keys somewhere in the room.

    Word by Word: Left AUX keys somewhere in room.

    Shows the adverb негде expressing an unspecified place.

  4. Разговарам са неким телефоном.

    I am talking to someone on the phone.

    Word by Word: I-talk with someone phone-INST.

    Shows the instrumental case after a preposition (са неким), demonstrating that the word does not split.

Common Mistakes

  • Splitting the prefix 'не-' around a preposition.

    Причао сам не са ким.
    Причао сам са неким.

    Negative pronouns (нико) split around prepositions (ни са ким), but indefinite pronouns starting with не- never split. Place the preposition before the inflected form: 'са неким'.

  • Using 'неко' instead of negative pronouns in a negated clause.

    Не видим некога овде.
    Не видим никога овде.

    Serbian uses negative concord. To express 'I don't see anyone', use the negative pronoun 'никога' rather than 'некога'.

  • Using the nominative 'неко' instead of the animate accusative form 'некога'.

    Чујем неко напољу.
    Чујем некога напољу.

    Because 'неко' refers to a human being, its direct object accusative form must match the genitive ending: 'некога'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

неко / нешто / негдеLevel 2Someone Something and Somewhere

Learn This First

To use indefinite pronouns and adverbs (неко, нешто, негде), learners need to know their base question words (ко, шта, где) from which they are formed using the prefix 'не-', as well as how pronouns serve as grammatical subjects in clauses.

Words in This Pattern

неконештонегде