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312. Quīvīs or quīlibet (any one you will), quisquam , and the corresponding adjective ūllus, any at all, are general indefinites.

Quīvīs and quīlibet are used chiefly in affirmative clauses, quisquam and ūllus in clauses where a universal negative is expressed or suggested:—

  1. nōn cuivīs hominī contingit adīre Corinthum (Hor. Ep. 1.17.36) , it is not every man's luck to go to Corinth. [ nōn cuiquam would mean not any man's.]
  2. quemlibet modo aliquem (Acad. 2.132) , anybody you will, provided it be somebody.
  3. quisquam est timidus, is ego sum (Fam. 6.14.1) , if any man is timorous, I am he.
  4. tempus est ūllum iūre hominis necandī; (Mil. 9), if there is any occasion whatever when homicide is justifiable.

Note.--The use of the indefinites is very various, and must be learned from the Lexicon and from practice. The choice among them may depend merely on the point of view of the speaker, so that they are often practically interchangeable. The differences are (with few exceptions) those of logic, not of syntax.

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