чиј / чија / чие / чии

Asking Whose

Level 2Sounds Like čiǰ; čiǰa; čie; čii

To ask whose, use чиј. It matches the thing that someone owns: Чија е книгата? (Whose is the book?)

How It Works

Чиј asks who something belongs to. Its form depends on the thing that is owned:

  • Чиј е телефонот? (Whose is the phone?), телефон is masculine
  • Чија е книгата? (Whose is the book?), книга is feminine
  • Чие е детето? (Whose is the child?), дете is neuter
  • Чии се клучевите? (Whose are the keys?), клучеви is plural

The owner does not change the form. Even if you think the book belongs to a man, you still ask Чија е книгата?, because книга is feminine.

Чиј can also come right before its noun: Чиј чадор е ова? (Whose umbrella is this?) With a preposition, the preposition comes first: Во чија куќа живееш?

To answer, use a possessive word or на: Мој е. (It is mine.) На Марко е. (It is Marko's.) See My and Your and Possession With На.

Examples (6)

  1. Чиј е овој телефон?

    Whose phone is this?

    Телефон is masculine, so the form is чиј.

  2. Чија е книгата?

    Whose is the book?

    Книга is feminine, so the form is чија.

  3. Чие е детето?

    Whose child is it?

    Дете is neuter, so the form is чие.

  4. Чии се клучевите?

    Whose are the keys?

    Клучеви is plural, so the form is чии and the verb is се.

  5. Чиј чадор е ова?

    Whose umbrella is this?

    Чиј can come right before its noun.

  6. Во чија куќа живееш?

    Whose house do you live in?

    The preposition во comes before чија.

Common Mistakes

  • Matching чиј to the owner instead of the thing owned.

    Чиј е книгата?
    Чија е книгата?

    Книга is feminine, so use чија, whoever the owner is.

  • Using a singular form for several things.

    Чие се клучевите?
    Чии се клучевите?

    Клучеви is plural, so use чии.

How It Connects

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

чиј / чија / чие / чииLevel 2Asking Whose

Learn This First

Whose combines question agreement and possessives.

Words in This Pattern

чиј