pronoun

quelqu'un

someone

C'est une personne dont on ne dit pas le nom ou qu'on ne connaît pas.

Definition & meaning

The French word « quelqu’un » means “someone”, “somebody”, or “anyone” depending on the context.
It refers to an unspecified person — used when speaking about a person without saying exactly who.
For example: Il y a quelqu’un à la porte → “There is someone at the door.”

It can also appear in negative or interrogative sentences with the meaning “anyone”, as in Je ne vois personne (I see no one) versus Tu connais quelqu’un ici ? (Do you know anyone here?).

Grammar & Word origin

Grammatical category: Indefinite pronoun.
It is always singular, even if it can refer in a general sense to “one person among several.”
Form: It is composed of two elements:

quelque (meaning “some” or “a certain”)
un (meaning “one”)

Together they literally mean “a certain one (person).”
It always refers to a person — for things or objects, French uses quelque chose (“something”).