Keeping Relative Reference Clear

Level 5Sounds Like koǰi sa udal̂enim antecedentom

In complex sentences, the relative pronoun 'који' does not have to stand right next to its antecedent. When intervening prepositional phrases, genitive modifiers, or verbs separate them, 'који' relies on gender, number, and animacy agreement—rather than word proximity—to pinpoint the exact noun it describes.

How It Works

While the most straightforward relative clauses place који immediately after the head noun, standard formal, journalistic, and literary Serbian frequently separates them.

1. Constituent Hierarchy and Intervening Modifiers
Complex nominal heads often include prepositional phrases or genitive attributes. In such phrases, the relative pronoun can modify either the head noun or the dependent noun:

  • Adjacent modifier: Упознао сам сестру (F.sg) мог пријатеља (M.sg) која ради овде. (која matches feminine сестра).
  • Distant head: Упознао сам пријатеља (M.sg) моје сестре (F.sg) који ради овде. (који bypasses the adjacent feminine noun сестра to modify пријатељ).

2. Animacy as an Agreement Filter
In the accusative case, masculine animate and inanimate nouns have different forms. Masculine inanimates take the nominative form (који), while animates take genitive forms (кога / којег). This difference cleanly resolves reference across complex head phrases:

  • Рукопис (inan.) аутора (anim.) који читам... (Modifies inanimate рукопис).
  • Рукопис (inan.) аутора (anim.) кога ценим... (Modifies animate аутор).

3. Avoidance of Syntactic Amphiboly (Ambiguity)
Morphology only resolves reference if the candidate nouns differ in grammatical gender, number, or animacy. If both nouns share identical features (e.g., both masculine singular animates), standard Serbian avoids a distant antecedent clause and requires rephrasing with possessive adjectives to prevent confusion:

  • Ambiguous: Посетио сам сина нашег комшије који живи у Бечу. (Unclear who lives in Vienna).
  • Clear rephrasing: Посетио сам нашег комшијиног сина који живи у Бечу.

4. Register and Word Order
Separation also occurs via extraposition across a predicate (e.g., placing the relative clause at the end of the sentence for sentence rhythm or balance). While standard in formal writing, conversational Serbian prefers keeping the antecedent adjacent or using што with resumptive clitics.

Examples (4)

  1. Сертификат је уручен директору локалне болнице који се захвалио на указаном поверењу.

    The certificate was presented to the director of the local hospital, who expressed gratitude for the trust shown.

    Word by Word: Certificate was handed director [M.sg] local hospital [F.sg] who [M.sg] self thanked on indicated trust.

    The masculine singular form 'који' skips the adjacent feminine noun 'болнице' (hospital) to attach unambiguously to the distant head 'директору' (director).

  2. Пронашао сам књиге на оном старом столу које сам тражио читаве недеље.

    I found the books on that old desk that I had been looking for all week.

    Word by Word: Found am books [F.pl] on that old desk [M.sg] which [F.pl] am looked-for whole week.

    The feminine plural pronoun 'које' agrees with 'књиге' across the intervening locative prepositional phrase 'на оном старом столу'.

  3. Прочитао сам роман познатог писца који је објављен прошле године.

    I read the novel of the well-known writer which was published last year.

    Word by Word: Read am novel [M.sg.inan] famous writer [M.sg.anim] which [M.sg.Nom] was published last year.

    Although both nouns are masculine singular, the passive verb 'је објављен' selects an inanimate subject, anchoring 'који' to 'роман' rather than 'писац'.

  4. Стигло је писмо јутрос које смо дуго чекали.

    A letter arrived this morning that we had been waiting for for a long time.

    Word by Word: Arrived is letter [N.sg] this-morning which [N.sg.Acc] are long waited.

    Extraposition: the relative clause is separated from its neuter singular antecedent 'писмо' by an adverbial phrase ('јутрос') for information focus.

Common Mistakes

  • Making 'који/која' agree with the nearer noun when the head is another noun.

    Different MeaningРазговарао сам са председником општине која је обећала помоћ грађанима.
    Разговарао сам са председником општине који је обећао помоћ грађанима.

    'Разговарао сам са председником општине која је обећала помоћ грађанима' is correct, but 'која' points to 'општина': the municipality promised. If the president promised, use 'који'. Always check which noun the relative pronoun should point to.

  • Copying the antecedent's case into the relative pronoun instead of assigning the relative clause's case.

    Упознао сам пријатеља моје сестре којег ради као инжењер.
    Упознао сам пријатеља моје сестре који ради као инжењер.

    Case attraction is ungrammatical. Even though 'пријатеља' is in the accusative case in the main clause, the pronoun must be nominative ('који') because it functions as the subject within the relative clause.

  • Leaving two candidate nouns with identical gender and number ambiguous instead of rephrasing.

    Видео сам сина нашег комшије који је купио нови ауто.
    Видео сам нашег комшијиног сина који је купио нови ауто.

    When both the head and dependent nouns share masculine singular gender, morphology cannot disambiguate them. Converting the genitive modifier into a possessive adjective clarifies that 'син' is the sole modified noun.

How It Connects

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Keeping Relative Reference ClearLevel 5

Learn This First

Resolving a relative pronoun when intervening words separate it from its antecedent requires a firm grasp of standard relative clauses with 'који' and how its case, gender, and number morphology allow it to latch onto the correct referent across intervening phrases.

Words in This Pattern

који