Indefinite pronouns name a person or thing without pinning down exactly who or which: cineva (someone), ceva (something), fiecare (each one), toți / toate (everyone / all), unii / unele (some), oricine / orice / oricare (anyone / anything / any one), altcineva / altceva (someone / something else). Two facts about them surprise English speakers. First, several of them inflect for case — fiecare has a genitive-dative fiecăruia, and toți becomes tuturor. Second, and more importantly for everyday accuracy: fiecare ("each / everyone") and toată lumea ("everyone," literally "all the world") are grammatically singular and take a singular verb — fiecare vine, not *fiecare vin. This page maps the set, shows the case forms, and nails down the agreement. The negative members of this family (nimeni, nimic) and the someone/no-one pairing get their own indefinite vs negative pair page.
The core set
| Pronoun | Meaning | Refers to | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| cineva | someone | persons | singular |
| ceva | something | things | singular |
| fiecare | each one / everyone | persons or things | singular |
| toți / toate | everyone / all | persons or things | plural |
| unii / unele | some (people/things) | persons or things | plural |
| oricine | anyone / whoever | persons | singular |
| orice | anything / whatever | things | singular |
| oricare | any one (of a set) | persons or things | singular |
| altcineva | someone else | persons | singular |
| altceva | something else | things | singular |
cineva, ceva — someone, something
A sunat cineva cât ai fost plecat.
Someone called while you were out.
Vreau să-ți spun ceva important.
I want to tell you something important.
The -va ending (from care + an old particle) marks these as the "some-" series; it parallels English "some-" in someone, something.
oricine, orice, oricare — anyone, anything, any one
The ori- prefix gives the free-choice "any / -ever" sense: oricine ("anyone, whoever"), orice ("anything, whatever"), oricare ("any one of them").
Oricine poate învăța o limbă străină dacă exersează.
Anyone can learn a foreign language if they practise.
Fac orice ca să te ajut.
I'll do anything to help you.
altcineva, altceva — someone/something else
Dacă nu ești tu, atunci trebuie să fie altcineva.
If it's not you, then it must be someone else.
Hai să vorbim despre altceva.
Let's talk about something else.
fiecare — singular, and inflected
fiecare means "each / every / each one / everyone." Despite the "everyone" sense, it is rigorously singular: the verb, any possessive, and any agreeing word are singular.
Fiecare vine la ora stabilită.
Everyone comes at the set time. (singular verb vine, not vin)
Fiecare și-a primit partea lui.
Each one got their share. (singular și-a, partea lui)
In the genitive-dative, fiecare inflects to fiecăruia (masc.) / fiecăreia (fem.) — the -uia / -eia dative-pronoun ending you also see on căruia and acela.
I-am dat fiecăruia câte un exemplar.
I gave each one a copy. (dative fiecăruia + distributive câte)
Părerea fiecăreia dintre fete contează.
The opinion of each of the girls counts. (genitive fiecăreia)
toți / toate — everyone, all (and the dative tuturor)
toți (masc.) / toate (fem./neut.) is the plural "everyone / all (of them)," and it takes a plural verb — the mirror image of fiecare. In the genitive-dative both genders collapse into the single irregular form tuturor ("of/to all").
Toți au fost de acord cu propunerea.
Everyone agreed with the proposal. (plural au fost)
Le mulțumesc tuturor pentru sprijin.
I thank everyone for their support. (dative tuturor + clitic le)
Soarta tuturor depinde de decizia asta.
Everyone's fate depends on this decision. (genitive tuturor)
A close synonym is toată lumea ("everyone," literally "all the world") — and like fiecare, it is grammatically singular even though it means a crowd: toată lumea știe ("everyone knows"), not *toată lumea știu.
Toată lumea știe că pleci, nu mai e un secret.
Everyone knows you're leaving, it's not a secret anymore. (singular știe)
unii / unele — some (of them)
unii (masc.) / unele (fem./neut.) is the partitive "some (people / things)," set against "others" (alții / altele). It is plural and often opens a contrast.
Unii preferă marea, alții preferă muntele.
Some prefer the sea, others prefer the mountains.
Unele dintre cărți sunt deja epuizate.
Some of the books are already out of print.
Common Mistakes
The dominant error by far is treating the "everyone" words as plural. Then come the missing case forms and the someone/anyone mix-up.
Don't give fiecare a plural verb — it is singular:
❌ Fiecare vin când vor.
Incorrect — fiecare is singular: fiecare vine când vrea.
✅ Fiecare vine când vrea.
Each one comes when they want.
Don't give toată lumea a plural verb either:
❌ Toată lumea știu adevărul.
Incorrect — toată lumea is grammatically singular: toată lumea știe.
✅ Toată lumea știe adevărul.
Everyone knows the truth.
Don't use the nominative where a dative is needed — fiecare inflects:
❌ I-am dat fiecare câte un măr.
Incorrect — the recipient is dative: fiecăruia, not fiecare.
✅ I-am dat fiecăruia câte un măr.
I gave each one an apple.
Don't leave toți uninflected in the genitive-dative — it becomes tuturor:
❌ Le mulțumesc toți pentru ajutor.
Incorrect — the dative of toți is the irregular tuturor.
✅ Le mulțumesc tuturor pentru ajutor.
I thank everyone for their help.
Don't confuse the "some-" series with the "any-" series — cineva is "someone," oricine is "anyone/whoever":
❌ Oricine a sunat, dar n-a lăsat mesaj.
Wrong sense — for a definite 'someone (did)' use cineva; oricine is free-choice 'anyone'.
✅ Cineva a sunat, dar n-a lăsat mesaj.
Someone called but didn't leave a message.
Key Takeaways
- cineva / ceva = someone / something; altcineva / altceva = someone / something else; oricine / orice / oricare = anyone / anything / any one.
- fiecare ("each / everyone") and toată lumea ("everyone") are grammatically singular — singular verb.
- toți / toate ("everyone / all") is plural — plural verb.
- Case forms to know: fiecăruia / fiecăreia (gen-dat of fiecare) and the irregular tuturor (gen-dat of toți / toate).
- unii / unele = "some (of them)," paired against alții / altele ("others").
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- Indefinite vs Negative Pronouns (cineva/nimeni, ceva/nimic)A2 — Every Romanian indefinite has a negative twin: cineva/nimeni (someone/nobody), ceva/nimic (something/nothing), undeva/nicăieri (somewhere/nowhere), cândva/niciodată (sometime/never), vreun/niciun (some/no). The negatives REQUIRE the verbal nu (Nu vine nimeni); the positives don't and appear in questions and affirmatives. Choosing the right twin is a polarity decision.
- Indefinite Determiners (vreun, niște, alt, fiecare)B1 — Romanian's indefinite determiners — vreun/vreo (any), niște (some), alt/altă (another), fiecare (each), orice/oricare (any), câțiva (a few), tot (all) — with agreement, the polarity-sensitive vreun, and the determiner-vs-pronoun split of alt/altul.
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- Case Marking on PronounsB1 — Why Romanian pronouns preserve a far richer case system than nouns — distinct nominative (eu, tu, el), accusative (mă/pe mine, te/pe tine), and dative (îmi/mie, îți/ție) forms, split into clitic and strong sets — and how this is where most of the real case-learning happens.
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- The Dative (indirect object, 'to')B1 — The dative marks the recipient or beneficiary of an action ('to/for someone') using the same form as the genitive — with obligatory clitic doubling and a set of verbs whose government you learn one by one.