niekto

Niekto is a Slovak indefinite pronoun meaning "someone" or "somebody." It is used when the identity of a person is unknown or unimportant, or when making a general statement about a person without naming them.

In sentences, niekto functions as the subject and can appear in questions or statements. It is common in everyday speech and in informal writing, but also appears in formal contexts when the identity of the person is not specified.

The word is formed from the negation nie and the interrogative pronoun kto (who). It inflects like a pronoun and follows the standard patterns of Slovak pronoun usage, with forms adapting to case and number as required by the sentence.

Examples:

- Niekto zvoní na dverách.

- Neviem, či niekto čaká.

- S niekým som sa stretol.

The term is distinct from nikto, which means nobody, and from kto (who). It is commonly taught in Slovak language resources and is a staple of everyday communication.