A word family for -ever
Words ending in -quiera line up with the English -ever words: quienquiera (whoever), dondequiera (wherever) and cualquiera (whichever).
-quiera is an old subjunctive of querer: quienquiera historically means “whoever may wish”. Two things follow. With a clause, the verb goes into the subjuntivo, and quienquiera and dondequiera sound formal.
The forms in a sentence
Quienquiera que llame, dile que no estoy.
Whoever calls, tell them I'm not in.
Dondequiera que vayas, te acompañaré.
Wherever you go, I'll go with you.
Cualquiera que sea el motivo, la respuesta es no.
Whatever the reason is, the answer is no.
Cualquiera on its own
With no noun after it, cualquiera stands for any person at all: anyone, anybody. It does not change for gender. In front of a noun the short form cualquier is used instead: cualquier día.
Cualquiera as a pronoun
Eso lo sabe cualquiera.
Everybody knows that.
Cualquiera de los dos me parece bien.
Either of the two seems fine to me.
No es cualquiera, es la mejor del equipo.
She isn't just anybody, she's the best in the team.
After a noun with an indefinite article the meaning shifts: un día cualquiera is not a day chosen at random, it is an ordinary one, nothing special – the English just any old day. Said of people it can sound belittling, and una cualquiera is an insult. If you want a neutral “some woman”, say cualquier mujer or una mujer.
Cualquiera after the noun
No quiero un trabajo cualquiera, quiero este.
I don't want just any old job, I want this one.
Era una tarde cualquiera de noviembre.
It was an ordinary November afternoon.
Compró un coche cualquiera, sin pensarlo mucho.
He bought some car or other without thinking much about it.
In conversation - the doubling
This is where English and Spanish part company: wherever you go is perfectly ordinary English, while dondequiera que vayas sounds formal. In speech Spanish prefers the doubling: the same verb twice in the subjuntivo, with the relative word in between. English has no counterpart, so learn it as a shape.
Formal and spoken
| Formal | Spoken | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Dondequiera que vayas | Vayas donde vayas | wherever you go |
| Quienquiera que sea | Sea quien sea | whoever it is |
| Cualquiera que sea el motivo | Sea cual sea el motivo | whatever the reason is |
The doubling in everyday speech
Vayas donde vayas, encontrarás amigos.
Wherever you go, you'll find friends.
Pase lo que pase, no te rindas.
Whatever happens, don't give up.
Cueste lo que cueste, lo terminamos hoy.
Whatever it costs, we're finishing it today.
