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310.
Quis, quispiam,
aliquis, quídam, are particular indefinites,
meaning some, a certain, any. Of these, quis, any one, is least definite, and
quídam, a certain one,
most definite; aliquis and quispiam, some one, stand between the
two: -
- díerit quis
(quispiam), some one may say.
- aliquí philosophí ita putant, some philosophers
think so. [quidam would mean
certain persons defined to the speaker's mind, though not named.]
- habitant híc quaedam
mulierés pauperculae (Ter. Ad. 647), some poor women live
here [i.e. some women he knows of; some women or other would be
aliquae or nesció quae].
a. The indefinite quis is rare except in the combinations
sí quis, if any;
nisi quis, if any ... not;
ne quis, lest any, in order that
none; num quis (ecquis),
whether any; and in relative clauses.
b. The compounds quispiam and aliquis are often used instead of quis after sí,
nisi, ne, and num, and are
rather more emphatic: -
- quid sí hóc
quispiam voluit deus (Ter. Eun. 875), what if some god
had desired this?
- nisi alicui suórum
negótium daret (Nep. Dion. 8. 2), unless he should employ
some one of his friends.
- cavébat Pompêius omnia,
né aliquid vós timérétis
(Mil. 66), Pompey took every precaution, so that you might have no
fear.