чий/чия/чие/чии

Asking Whose

Level 2Sounds Like čij/čiâ/čie/čii

Choose the form of чий that matches the thing: Чий е този ключ? (ключ is masculine), Чия е тази чанта? (чанта is feminine).

How It Works

1. The four forms.

  • чий телефон (whose phone), masculine
  • чия чанта (whose bag), feminine
  • чие куче (whose dog), neuter
  • чии обувки (whose shoes), plural

The stress falls on the last vowel: чия́, чие́, чии́.

2. Word order. Both orders are common: Чий е този ключ? and Чий ключ е това? (Whose key is this?)

3. Answering. Use a possessive pronoun that also agrees with the thing: Чия е тази чанта? — Моя е. (It's mine.) Or use на with the owner: На сестра ми е. (It's my sister's.)

4. A common alternative. In everyday speech, people also ask with на кого: На кого е тази чанта? Both questions are correct.

5. Not the relative word. To say "the man whose car ..." in the middle of a sentence, Bulgarian uses чийто, not чий.

Examples (6)

  1. Чия е тази чанта?

    Whose bag is this?

    Чанта is feminine, so чия.

  2. Чий е този ключ?

    Whose key is this?

    Ключ is masculine, so чий.

  3. Чие е това куче?

    Whose dog is this?

    Куче is neuter, so чие.

  4. Чии са тези обувки?

    Whose shoes are these?

    Обувки is plural, so чии.

  5. Чия идея беше това?

    Whose idea was this?

  6. Чий ред е сега?

    Whose turn is it now?

Common Mistakes

  • Using the masculine form for a feminine noun.

    Чий е тази чанта?
    Чия е тази чанта?

    Чий agrees with the thing owned. Чанта is feminine, so the form is чия, no matter who the owner is.

  • Using the singular form for a plural noun.

    Чий са тези очила?
    Чии са тези очила?

    Очила is plural, so use чии.

How It Connects

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

чий/чия/чие/чииLevel 2Asking Whose

Learn This First

Asking whose needs кой and possessives.

Words in This Pattern

чий