ono što and sve što

Level 4

Ono što and sve što introduce a clause that works like a noun.

How It Works

When English uses what as in what you say, Bosnian often uses ono što: the thing that.

BosnianEnglish
ono što govorišwhat you are saying
sve što kuhaševerything you cook
ništa što kažešnothing that you say

The pronoun can change case if the clause needs it: Ne razumijem ono što govoriš (accusative object). Sjećam se svega što je rekla (genitive after the verb). Sve becomes svega in the genitive.

The usual linking word in writing is što. You may hear šta in some speech, but this course uses šta for questions and što for linking a clause.

Examples (5)

  1. Ne razumijem ono što govoriš.

    I do not understand what you are saying.

    Ono što is the object.

  2. Sve što kuhaš, miriše lijepo.

    Everything you cook smells good.

    Sve što is the subject.

  3. Ono što Amir kaže, uvijek je zanimljivo.

    What Amir says is always interesting.

    Ono što opens the sentence.

  4. Znam sve što treba.

    I know everything that is needed.

    Sve što as an object.

  5. Sve što je rekla, pamtim.

    I remember everything she said.

    Sve što opens the sentence as the object.

Common Mistakes

  • Using koje after sve

    Sve koje imam, dajem tebi.
    Sve što imam, dajem tebi.

    After sve use što, not a form of koji.

How It Connects

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

ono što and sve štoLevel 4

Learn This First

Ono što means what.

Words in This Pattern

onoštosve