Breakdown of Спроси кого угодно — все это знают.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
знать
to know
спросить
to ask (perfective)
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
угодно
any- you like (as in "anyone you like")
Questions & Answers about Спроси кого угодно — все это знают.
Could we use любого or всякого instead of кого угодно here?
You could use любого (Спроси любого), which also means "Ask anyone". However, кого угодно emphasizes unlimited free choice—literally "ask whoever pleases you". You would avoid всякого here: while it belongs to the same family of universal pronouns, всякий leans closer to "every sort of", whereas this sentence is about picking one random person.
How does the phrase кого угодно decline? Do I need to change both words?
Only the first word changes! The word угодно is a frozen form meaning "pleasing" or "desirable" and never changes. Because the verb спросить (to ask) requires the accusative case for its direct object, the pronoun кто changes to кого, resulting in кого угодно.
Why does the Russian sentence use все for "everyone" instead of каждый?
Все refers to "everyone" as a collective group, which is perfect for expressing that something is general public knowledge. Каждый means "each" or "every single person" considered individually. While каждый это знает is grammatically correct, все это знают is the much more natural, standard way to say "everyone knows it".
Why is there a dash between the two parts of the sentence instead of a comma?
A dash is often used between two clauses in Russian when the second part is a direct result, sudden consequence, or conclusion of the first part. Here, it acts as a shortcut for saying "Ask anyone, and as a result you will find out that everyone knows it."
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