Breakdown of Кое-кто из студентов уже сдал реферат, а кое-кто ещё пишет черновой вариант.
писать
to write
студент
the student
а
and
из
of
Questions & Answers about Кое-кто из студентов уже сдал реферат, а кое-кто ещё пишет черновой вариант.
What does кое-кто mean here, and how is it different from кто-то?
Here кое-кто means some people, certain people, or more naturally in this sentence, some of the students.
A useful nuance:
- кто-то = someone / somebody, usually neutral and often truly unknown
- кое-кто = someone / certain people, often with the idea that the speaker either knows who they mean or does not want to name them directly
So кое-кто из студентов is basically some of the students or certain students.
Why does кое-кто take singular verbs if the English meaning is plural?
Because кое-кто is grammatically singular in Russian, even when English would naturally translate it as some people or some of the students.
That is why the sentence has:
- кое-кто ... сдал
- кое-кто ... пишет
not plural forms like сдали or пишут.
So the idea is plural in meaning, but singular in grammar.
Why is it сдал and not сдала or сдали?