Whole-Clause što

Commenting on a Whole Event

Level 6

A supplementary clause with što can refer to the content of the previous clause rather than to one noun. It commonly follows a comma.

How It Works

Treat the antecedent as an event or proposition: Ana je položila ispit, što nas je razveselilo. What caused the pleasure was her passing, not the noun ispit taken alone.

In this use, što introduces extra information and the boundary is marked with a comma. The resulting clause can evaluate the event, describe a consequence or connect it to another fact.

Compare ispit koji je bio težak, where koji describes a masculine noun. Whole-clause što instead treats the preceding content as a single referent; an agreeing participle is neuter singular, as in što je bilo važno. If the intended reference is uncertain, replace it with an explicit phrase such as ta odluka.

Examples (3)

  1. Vlak je kasnio, što nas je zabrinulo.

    The train was late, which worried us.

  2. Ana je pronašla ključ, što nam je uštedjelo vrijeme.

    Ana found the key, which saved us time.

  3. Nitko nije odustao, što je bilo važno za ekipu.

    Nobody gave up, which was important for the team.

How It Connects

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

Whole-Clause štoLevel 6Commenting on a Whole Event

Learn This First

Understand a supplementary relative as added information before extending its antecedent from one noun to a whole event.

Words in This Pattern