Talk:irgendein

If anybody is able to say more about the German equivalents of "any" meaning "every, whichever", it would be appreciated. It's difficult. I think "jeder beliebige" works, but it's not much used. "Jeder" also works most of the time, but sometimes it might apply "each single one". "Welcher (auch immer)" seems to be used chiefly with a relative clause or one implied (like English "whichever").

"Irgendein" seems to work when the idea is "a certain one, but it doesn't matter which one". It's not possible in a general sense as in "Any student can apply", which doesn't mean "some certain student", but "all students whoever they are". So that's why it doesn't work. You could for example say "Irgendein Student kann sich bewerben und verdient hier gleich so viel wie ich." (Any/some student can apply and will immediately earn what I earn.) But in this case you have a particular one in mind, even if it could be anybody. So it's more like "some". You could also say "Irgendein Messer wird's tun." (Any knife will do the trick). Again, probably because it's only one knife that will be used, even if several others could be.

Well, these are my two cents. 2.203.201.61 05:28, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

In relation to the above, would it mean something like "any one...", e.g. "any one of the students" or "any one apple", or maybe something like "any single/individual student (at all)"? einig could be compared also, since it can be used in a similar way. Eric Schiefelbein (talk) 11:16, 6 September 2022 (UTC)