кой/коя/кое/кои

Asking Who and Which

Level 1Sounds Like koj/koâ/koe/koi

Кой means "who": Кой е това? (Who is this?) Before a noun it means "which": Коя книга? (Which book?)

How It Works

Four forms:
кой – masculine: Кой автобус? (Which bus?)
коя – feminine: Коя улица? (Which street?)
кое – neuter: Кое вино? (Which wine?)
кои – plural: Кои обувки? (Which shoes?)
The ending matches the noun's gender, which you can review in род на съществителните.

Who? When you do not know who someone is, use кой: Кой е там? (Who is there?) Кой иска кафе? (Who wants coffee?) When you know it is a woman, or several people, the form agrees: Коя е тя? (Who is she?) Кои са тези хора? (Who are these people?)

Which one? Without a noun, the forms can also mean "which one": Коя искаш – червената или синята? (Which one do you want – the red one or the blue one?)

Whom? Standard Bulgarian has a separate object form for "who": Кого търсите? (Who are you looking for?) In casual speech you will also hear кой here, but careful speech and writing use кого. More in кого/когото/комуто.

кой or какъв? Кой picks one out of a known set: Кой автобус отива до центъра? (Which bus goes to the center?) Какъв asks what kind: Какъв автобус е това? (What kind of bus is that?)

Examples (6)

  1. Кой е това? – Това е Иван.

    Who is this? – This is Ivan.

    Word by Word: Who is this? – This is Ivan.

  2. Коя книга четеш?

    Which book are you reading?

    Word by Word: Which book you-read?

    Коя, because книга is feminine.

  3. Кое вино препоръчвате?

    Which wine do you recommend?

    Word by Word: Which wine you-recommend?

    Кое, because вино is neuter.

  4. Кои обувки да купя?

    Which shoes should I buy?

    Word by Word: Which shoes that I-buy?

    Кои, because обувки is plural.

  5. Кой автобус отива до центъра?

    Which bus goes to the center?

    Word by Word: Which bus goes to center-the?

  6. Коя е тя?

    Who is she?

    Word by Word: Who is she?

    The feminine form, because we know we are asking about a woman.

Common Mistakes

  • Using кой before a feminine noun.

    Кой книга четеш?
    Коя книга четеш?

    Before a noun the word must agree with it. Книга is feminine, so the form is коя.

  • Keeping кой when asking about several people.

    Кой са те?
    Кои са те?

    With a plural subject like те, use the plural form кои.

How It Connects

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

кой/коя/кое/коиLevel 1Asking Who and Which

Learn This First

Asking which one needs noun gender.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

койкой