Of the pronouns the forms in body, i.e. somebody, anybody, everybody, nobody, have preserved the old genitive in -s, which they retain alongside of the newer of-form: 'I don't want anybody's help,' or 'the help of anybody.'
The other compound forms have preserved the old s-genitive only when used as the subject of the gerund:
'I haven't heard of anything's (or anything, an accusative) being wrong.'
Elsewhere we employ the modern means of expressing the grammatical relations: subject before verb and object after it; to-dative or for-dative; of-genitive.
Most of these indefinite pronouns have no plural.
On the other hand, a few-men, people, folks, we, you, they as indefinite pronouns are used only in the plural.
A number of these indefinite pronouns numbers, lots, heaps, etc. have an s-plural, as they were originally nouns. In the case of a lot and lots, a heap and heaps, a world and worlds, there is often no essential difference of meaning between singular and plural, both numbers indicating a large quantity or number. The plural is perhaps more emphatic.
The compound somebody or other has the old genitive in -s or the newer of-genitive: 'It is odds that you touch somebody or other's sore place,' or 'the sore place of somebody or other.' The compound pronouns are often followed by the appositive adverb else, which has the force of a predicate adjective: 'Did he want anything else?' (additional). 'It couldn't mean anything else' (different). 'It wasn't he; it was somebody else' (i.e. distinct from him).
These compound pronouns often enter into a close relation with else here, forming with it a compound indefinite pronoun: 'It can't be anybody else's hat,' instead of older 'any body's else hat.' 'That is my business and nobody else's,' or some times as in older English nobody's else. Older usage usually survives here only when there is no noun following else, as in the last example.
The accusative of a number of these pronouns is used adverbially.
