тоа што / тоа дека

Facts as Subjects and Objects

Level 5Sounds Like toa što; toa deka

Тоа што and тоа дека = the fact that, that: Тоа што доцни ме нервира. (It annoys me that he is late.) Тоа дека е болен не е точно. (It is not true that he is ill.)

How It Works

A clause as the subject. A verb like нервира (annoys) or радува (pleases) needs a subject. When that subject is a whole situation, use тоа што: Тоа што доцни ме нервира. Ме радува тоа што дојде. (I'm glad that you came.)

After a preposition. A preposition cannot stand directly before дека, and most prepositions also need тоа before a што clause, so тоа comes in between:

  • Зборувавме за тоа дека ќе се селиме. (We talked about moving.)
  • Останавме дома поради тоа што врнеше. (We stayed home because it was raining.)

Several connectors are built this way: поради тоа што, покрај тоа што, со тоа што, и покрај тоа што. A few connectors join што directly, such as освен што and при што.

As an object. After verbs of saying and thinking, a plain дека is enough: Знам дека е болен. (see дека). Add тоа when you point at the fact itself, often to react to it: Не ми се допаѓа тоа што пушиш. (I don't like the fact that you smoke.)

Што or дека? Тоа што is the usual choice for a fact you accept and react to with feelings, praise or blame: Ми смета тоа што не се јави. (It bothers me that you didn't call.) Тоа дека presents a claim or an idea, so it fits when you report, question or deny it: Тоа дека е болен не е точно. In formal writing, фактот дека (the fact that) is also common.

No extra pronoun. This што only links the clause; it is not a thing inside it, so no го or ја is added: тоа што доцни. Compare тоа што meaning "what", where што is the object: Тоа што го кажа е точно. (What you said is true.)

No comma separates these clauses from the rest of the sentence.

Examples (6)

  1. Тоа што доцни ме нервира.

    It annoys me that he is late.

    Word by Word: That what is-late me annoys.

  2. Тоа дека е болен не е точно.

    It is not true that he is ill.

    Word by Word: That that is ill not is true.

    Дека presents a claim, here one the speaker denies.

  3. Ме радува тоа што дојде.

    I'm glad that you came.

    Word by Word: Me pleases that what you-came.

  4. Зборувавме за тоа дека ќе се селиме.

    We talked about moving house.

    Word by Word: We-talked about that that will ourselves move.

  5. Останавме дома поради тоа што врнеше.

    We stayed home because it was raining.

    Word by Word: We-stayed home because-of that what was-raining.

  6. Не ми се допаѓа тоа што пушиш.

    I don't like the fact that you smoke.

    Word by Word: Not to-me itself pleases that what you-smoke.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a preposition directly before дека.

    Зборувавме за дека ќе се селиме.
    Зборувавме за тоа дека ќе се селиме.

    A preposition cannot take a whole clause on its own. Тоа stands for the clause: за тоа дека.

  • Adding an object pronoun as in a relative clause.

    Тоа што го доцни ме нервира.
    Тоа што доцни ме нервира.

    Here што only links the clause and is not the object of доцни, so no го is added. Го belongs in тоа што го кажа (what you said), where што stands for the thing said.

How It Connects

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тоа што / тоа декаLevel 5Facts as Subjects and Objects

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Facts as subjects combine тоа што and дека.

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