какъв/каква/какво/какви

Asking What Kind

Level 2Sounds Like kakʺv/kakva/kakvo/kakvi

Use какъв to ask about the kind or quality of something. Match it to the noun like an adjective: какъв град, каква кола, какво време, какви книги.

How It Works

1. The four forms.

  • Masculine: Какъв град е Пловдив? (What kind of city is Plovdiv?)
  • Feminine: Каква кола имаш? (What kind of car do you have?)
  • Neuter: Какво вино искате? (What kind of wine would you like?)
  • Plural: Какви книги четеш? (What kind of books do you read?)

2. What is it like? With съм, какъв asks for a description, and it agrees with the subject: Какъв е новият ти учител? (What is your new teacher like?) Какво е времето днес? (What is the weather like today?) It can also ask about a job: Какъв си по професия? (What do you do for a living?)

3. Какъв or кой? Кой asks which one, and какъв asks what kind:

  • Коя кола е твоята? (Which car is yours?)
  • Каква кола имаш? (What kind of car do you have?)

4. Какво on its own. When какво stands alone, it means what (see какво): Какво е това? (What is this?) Before a neuter noun, it is simply the neuter form of какъв: Какво дете! (What a child!)

5. Exclamations. The same word opens exclamations: Какъв хубав ден! (What a lovely day!) See exclamations with колко and какъв.

Examples (6)

  1. Каква кола имаш?

    What kind of car do you have?

    Каква agrees with the feminine noun кола.

  2. Какъв е новият ти учител?

    What is your new teacher like?

  3. Какво е времето в София?

    What is the weather like in Sofia?

    Какво agrees with the neuter noun време.

  4. Какви книги обичаш да четеш?

    What kind of books do you like to read?

  5. Какъв цвят е чантата ти?

    What color is your bag?

    Какъв agrees with цвят, not with чанта.

  6. Какъв си по професия?

    What do you do for a living?

    Word by Word: What are you by profession?

Common Mistakes

  • Using какво before a feminine noun.

    Какво кола имаш?
    Каква кола имаш?

    Какъв must agree with its noun. Кола is feminine, so the form is каква.

  • Forgetting the plural form.

    Какъв книги четеш?
    Какви книги четеш?

    Книги is plural, so the question word must be plural too: какви.

  • Asking the time with какъв.

    Какъв е часът?
    Колко е часът?

    Bulgarian asks the time with колко (how much), not какъв.

How It Connects

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

какъв/каква/какво/каквиLevel 2Asking What Kind

Learn This First

Asking what kind needs какво and agreement.

Words in This Pattern

какъв