Learn Hardcore Russian: Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то из соседей. - She said that she was looking for someone from the neighbors.

Russian does not have the same sequence‑of‑tenses rule as English.
The tense in the subordinate clause with что is chosen according to the real time of that action, not mechanically shifted into the past.

Here ищет (is looking) shows that, at the time she spoke, the search was ongoing.
English normally backshifts (said → was looking), but Russian keeps the “logical” tense:

Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то… – she said (at that moment) she is looking for someone.
Она сказала, что искала кого‑то… – she said she had been looking for someone (the looking was already over or clearly in the past relative to the saying).

Why is it кого‑то and not кто‑то?

Because кого‑то is in the accusative case. It is the direct object of ищет (is looking for whom?).

The question pair is:

кто? – nominative (who?)
кого? – accusative / genitive (whom?, of whom?)

The indefinite pronoun кто‑то declines just like кто:

nominative: кто‑то (someone – as the subject)
accusative: кого‑то (someone – as the object)

Since she is looking for someone (object), Russian uses кого‑то.

What does the suffix ‑то add in кого‑то? How is it different from кого‑нибудь?

The suffix ‑то makes the pronoun “indefinite but somewhat specific or definite in the speaker’s mind.”
Кого‑то ≈ some person, someone in particular (unknown/unspecified to the listener, but not just “any random person”).

Кого‑нибудь is more like “anyone, whoever,” and is common in:

questions: Ты видел кого‑нибудь? – Have you seen anyone?
conditionals / “no matter who” contexts.

In your sentence, кого‑то из соседей suggests “some specific neighbor from among them,” not just “any neighbor whatsoever.”

Why is there a comma before что?

In Russian, что often introduces a subordinate clause (a “that‑clause”).
When что is used this way, a comma is normally required before it:

Она сказала, что …
Я думаю, что …

So the comma here simply follows the standard rule for complex sentences: main clause (Она сказала) + comma + subordinate clause (что ищет кого‑то из соседей).

Can I say Она сказала, что она ищет кого‑то из соседей? Is repeating она correct?

Yes, that version is grammatically correct.
However, when the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause is the same person, Russian usually omits the repeated pronoun, unless there is a special reason to emphasize it.

So:

More natural/neutral: Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то из соседей.
Also correct, but heavier: Она сказала, что она ищет кого‑то из соседей.

The second version might be used if you really want to stress that it is she, not someone else, who is looking.

Why is it из соседей and not something like из соседи?

Because the preposition из (from, out of) always requires the genitive case.
You are saying “someone from among the neighbors,” and соседей is the genitive plural of сосед.

Cases here:

nominative plural: соседи (neighbors – as the subject)
genitive plural: соседей (of the neighbors, from the neighbors)

So из соседей literally means “from (out of) the neighbors,” i.e. from the group of neighbors.

Why does соседей end with ‑ей, not ‑ов, like студентов?

This is just how the noun сосед is declined; it belongs to a group of masculine nouns whose genitive plural ends in ‑ей.

Compare:

сосед – соседи – соседей
учитель – учителя – учителей

By contrast, many other masculine nouns take ‑ов in genitive plural:

студент – студенты – студентов

You simply have to learn that сосед has genitive plural соседей, not соседов.

Could we say Она сказала, что ищет соседа instead of кого‑то из соседей? What is the difference?

Она сказала, что ищет соседа = “She said she is looking for a neighbor.”
This does not clearly indicate that this neighbor is specifically one of her neighbors (in this building, on this floor, etc.); it’s just “a neighbor” in general.

Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то из соседей = “She said she is looking for someone from among the neighbors.”
This highlights the set “our neighbors” (for example, people living nearby) and says that the person is one of that group.

So кого‑то из соседей is more explicit about the person belonging to that particular group of neighbors.

Why do we use ищет (imperfective) and not a perfective form like нашла or найдёт?

Ищет (from искать) is imperfective, which is used for ongoing, repeated, or process‑type actions.
Here the meaning is that she is in the process of searching; the result (whether she finds anyone) is not in focus.

Perfective forms would change the meaning:

нашла – (she) found (completed result in the past)
найдёт – (she) will find (completion in the future is in focus)

Saying Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то из соседей emphasizes the current search, not the outcome.

Can the word order after что change? For example, can we say что кого‑то из соседей она ищет?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and что кого‑то из соседей она ищет is grammatically possible.
However, the neutral, most natural order is:

…что (она) ищет кого‑то из соседей.

If you say что кого‑то из соседей она ищет, you put extra emphasis on кого‑то из соседей (it sounds like: “It’s someone from the neighbors that she is looking for”).
This kind of fronting is common in spoken Russian for emphasis, but the neutral learner‑friendly version is the original word order.

Could we use говорила instead of сказала? What would change?

Сказала is perfective and refers to one completed act of saying: “she said (once).”
Говорила is imperfective and describes an ongoing or repeated action: “she was saying / used to say / would say.”

So:

Она сказала, что ищет кого‑то из соседей. – She said (once) that she is looking for someone from among the neighbors.
Она говорила, что ищет кого‑то из соседей. – She used to say / kept saying that she is looking for someone from among the neighbors (or: she was in the middle of saying that).

The original sentence clearly reports a single statement, so сказала is the more straightforward choice.