ён / яна / яно

Third-Person Singular Pronouns

Level 1Sounds Like ën âna âno

Ён (he), яна (she) and яно (it) replace a noun, and the noun's grammatical gender decides which one you use.

How It Works

These three pronouns point back to a noun you have already mentioned. The choice depends on the noun's gender, not on whether it is a person:

  • ён: masculine nouns such as стол (table), брат (brother). Дзе стол? Ён тут.
  • яна: feminine nouns such as кніга (book), кава (coffee), мама. Дзе кніга? Яна там.
  • яно: neuter nouns such as акно (window), малако (milk). Дзе акно? Яно там.

Watch out for words whose gender differs from Russian or from your own language. Кава is feminine in Belarusian, so coffee is яна.

Other cases. Ён and яно share the forms яго (him, it), яму (to him) and ім (with him). Яна has яе (her) and ёй (to her, with her). Belarusian adds no н- after a preposition: у яго, з ім, да яе, пра яго. The full set is in personal pronoun case forms.

For more than one person or thing, use яны for every gender.

Examples (6)

  1. Дзе стол? Ён тут.

    Where is the table? It is here.

    Стол is masculine, so "it" is ён.

  2. Дзе кніга? Яна там.

    Where is the book? It is there.

    Кніга is feminine, so "it" is яна.

  3. Дзе акно? Яно там.

    Where is the window? It is over there.

    Акно is neuter, so "it" is яно.

  4. Гэта Алесь. Ён мой сябар.

    This is Ales. He is my friend.

  5. Мама дома? Так, яна на кухні.

    Is Mom home? Yes, she is in the kitchen.

  6. Я бачу яго кожны дзень.

    I see him every day.

    Яго is the accusative form of ён.

Common Mistakes

  • Using яно for every thing, like English "it".

    Дзе стол? Яно тут.
    Дзе стол? Ён тут.

    Стол is masculine, so it is replaced by ён. Яно is only for neuter nouns such as акно.

  • Giving кава the masculine gender it has in Russian.

    Дзе кава? Ён на стале.
    Дзе кава? Яна на стале.

    Belarusian кава is feminine, so it is replaced by яна.

  • Adding н- after a preposition, as in Russian.

    Я іду ў кіно з нім.
    Я іду ў кіно з ім.

    Belarusian keeps the plain form after prepositions: з ім, у яго, да яе.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ён / яна / яноLevel 1Third-Person Singular Pronouns

Learn This First

Ён, яна, яно follow я.

Words in This Pattern

ёнянаяно