Questions & Answers about Новая грамматическая тема: местоимения с частицей «угодно» — «кто угодно», «что угодно», «где угодно», «когда угодно», «какой угодно», «сколько угодно».
In this pattern, угодно is a fixed particle that turns a question word into a free-choice word.
It adds the idea of no restriction:
- кто угодно = anyone at all
- что угодно = anything at all
- где угодно = anywhere
- когда угодно = anytime / whenever
- какой угодно = any kind of
- сколько угодно = any amount / as much or as many as you want
So the word is no longer asking a question. Кто? asks who?, but кто угодно means anyone.
Yes, in English-style grammar they are closer to adverbs of place and time.
In Russian grammar, words like где, когда, куда are often grouped with pronoun-like words because they point to place, time, direction, etc., rather than naming something directly. You may see terms like pronominal adverbs.
For learning purposes, the important thing is this:
- the same pattern works with кто, что, где, когда, какой, сколько
- all of them can combine with угодно to express free choice
So even if the labels differ, the grammar pattern is the same.