How to say "anything"?

Question

I'm trying to translate the phrase "I can tell her anything," but I've been given conflicting answers by different sites. Should it be cualquier cosa? Nada (even though it isn't a negative)?

Edit: Wait, what if I said, "everything" instead of "anything"? Would that make it any easier?

Answer 1

There is no one-to-one translation for "anything", because this word has several uses, and few languages have an exact match for it. This is one of those words that are unique to English, and therefore, it requires a different translation depending on the situation.

In your case, "No puedo decirle nada" would be the right translation, in my opinion. This sort of Spanish words are as peculiar as the English ones, by the way.

But the thing is, I'm trying to say I CAN tell her anything, not that I CAN'T tell her anything. - Jcatgrl, Sep 8, 2011

Answer 2

I would say in this case" puedo decirle cualquier cosa" Mary's sister

Answer 3

´cualquier cosa means 'whatever' You could use alguna cosa

Alguna cosa means something not anything, an alternative in English would be I can tell her whatever I want.

Oh, my mistake. - brittanyclark, Sep 8, 2011

Answer 4

But the thing is, I'm trying to say I CAN tell her anything, not that I CAN'T tell her anything. - Jcatgrl 11 mins ago

But you can't use English as a reference, because "anything" does not have a translation into Spanish.

I CAN tell her anything = Le puedo decir todo / cualquier cosa

I CAN'T tell her anything = No le puedo decir nada

English normally uses common words for negative and interrogative, but Spanish rarely mixes interrogatives and negatives; we use a different approach.

Answer 5

The sentence "I can tell her anything" in English can have different interpretations and it may be translated differently into Spanish.

It could mean the context that....we have a trusting and open relationship and can freely share our secrets.

or

It could mean that....I can give her a number of different plausible answers and she will not know the difference or she will be deceived.

The lack of context may be why you are getting different answers.

Ah. Well, what I meant was the first one. - Jcatgrl, Sep 8, 2011

Answer 6

Anything almost always = something, but in English we use anything in questions and negative sentences while we use something everywhere else.

I don't have something. = I don't have anything. No tengo nada. (Because in Spanish double negatives are okay)

Do you have anything do drink? Tienes algo para beber?

(Correct me if I made mistakes in the Spanish)

Sometimes anything means whatever, then it's "cualquier"

Hope that helped!

cualquier - 0074b507, Sep 8, 2011

Ha ha! of course! I fell right at the last hurdle. - rabbitwho, Sep 9, 2011

Answer 7

Puedo decirle mis secretos más profundos.?

no accent mark on mis. - 0074b507, Sep 8, 2011

Answer 8

cualquier cosa means 'whatever' You could use alguna cosa