indefinite words

In lesson 7.6 Indefinite words. cualquier / cualquiera    translation { cualquier - whichever}   {cualquiera- whatever}  In the por ejemplo section  it says cual bebida te gusta. No me importa. cualquiera esta bien para me. It shows cualquiera translated as whichever and not as whatever, can someone straiten me out on this ? thanks

Larry: I think this is an example that demonstrates there is often not an exact, word for word translation between languages, and that some ambiguity is to be accepted. This used to bother me a lot, now I think I understand that I have to be more concerned with translating the meaning or intent of a sentence, not the exact words.

I think you could use either whichever or whatever in an English sentence, although I would be more apt to say, "either is okay for me" rather than use whichever or whatever.

Good advice. Translating between two languages can be extremely challenging where at times even concepts don't carry over. How would you translate: Te digo usted? So to underline what Dan suggested here, having a good margin of ambiguity of "this kinda means that" is helpful.
 

Hi guys, 

In regards to cualquier and cualquiera; it all depends on the noun: Before the noun you use "cualquier". After the noun you use "cualquiera". 

-cualquier libro
-un libro cualquiera

Cualquiera shortens to cualquier before any noun, and normally occurs in the singular. 

Best!