каквото / колкото

Free Relatives with Каквото and Колкото

Level 3Sounds Like kakvoto i kolkoto

Каквото means what or whatever, and колкото means as much as: Прави каквото искаш. (Do what you want.) Яж колкото искаш. (Eat as much as you want.)

How It Works

1. Relative clauses without a noun. A relative clause usually follows a noun: книгата, която чета. Каквото and колкото can start a relative clause with no noun before it. The whole clause then works as the object or subject of the sentence.

  • Каквото means what, whatever, the thing that: Прави каквото искаш. (Do what you want.)
  • Колкото means as much as, as many as: Яж колкото искаш. (Eat as much as you want.)

2. Relative forms and question words. Каквото and колкото are the relative forms of какво and колко. Use the question words when something is asked or unknown, and the -то forms for the thing or amount itself:

  • Не знам какво искаш. (I don't know what you want.) This is an indirect question.
  • Ще ти дам каквото искаш. (I will give you what you want.) This is the thing itself.

In casual speech you may hear какво in the second type of sentence, but standard Bulgarian uses каквото.

3. The clause can come first. Then a comma follows it, and a word such as това or толкова often points back to it: Каквото посееш, това ще пожънеш. (You reap what you sow.) Колкото имам, толкова ще ти дам. (I will give you as much as I have.)

4. No comma when it completes the verb. When the clause comes right after the verb as its object, no comma is written: Вземи колкото ти трябва. (Take as much as you need.) See commas before subordinate clauses.

5. Whatever. Add и да to mean whatever or no matter what: Каквото и да стане, ще ти помогна. (Whatever happens, I will help you.) See който и да. Колкото also builds comparisons: толкова ... колкото and колкото ..., толкова.

Examples (6)

  1. Прави каквото искаш.

    Do what you want.

    The каквото-clause is the object of прави.

  2. Яж колкото искаш.

    Eat as much as you want.

  3. Разказах му каквото знаех.

    I told him what I knew.

  4. Вземи колкото ти трябва.

    Take as much as you need.

  5. Каквото посееш, това ще пожънеш.

    You reap what you sow.

    Word by Word: What you sow, that you will reap.

    A proverb: the clause comes first, and това points back to it.

  6. Каквото и да стане, ще ти помогна.

    Whatever happens, I will help you.

    И да turns каквото into whatever.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the question word какво for the thing itself.

    Ще ти дам какво искаш.
    Ще ти дам каквото искаш.

    When the clause names the thing you will give, standard Bulgarian uses the relative form каквото.

  • Using the relative form in an indirect question.

    Не знам каквото искаш.
    Не знам какво искаш.

    After не знам, the clause asks what you want, so it needs the question word какво.

  • Using колко instead of колкото for an amount.

    Яж колко искаш.
    Яж колкото искаш.

    Колко asks a question. To say as much as, use the relative form колкото.

How It Connects

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каквото / колкотоLevel 3Free Relatives with Каквото and Колкото

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Free relatives build on relative clauses.

Words in This Pattern

каквотоколкото