који

Relative Clauses

Level 3Sounds Like koǰi u odnosnim rečenicama

The pronoun који (feminine која, neuter које) links a descriptive relative clause to a noun in the main clause, functioning like English who, which, or that. It obeys a crucial two-part rule: its gender and number match the noun it describes, while its case depends strictly on its grammatical job inside its own relative clause.

How It Works

In Serbian, relative clauses (односне реченице) modify nominal heads using inflected pronouns. The most frequent and stylistically neutral pronoun is који.

1. Case Assignment vs. Gender-Number Agreement
Learners often fall into the trap of 'case attraction'—matching који to the case of the preceding noun. Always analyze the subclause separately:
• Упознао сам девојку [која живи овде].
→ Девојку is feminine singular accusative (object of упознао сам), but која is nominative because it is the subject of живи.
• То је кућа [у којој сам одрастао].
→ Кућа is nominative, but у којој is locative governed by the preposition у.

2. Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Clauses
• Restrictive (defining): Identifies which specific noun is meant; no comma is used.
То је професор којег сви поштују. (That is the professor whom everyone respects.)
• Non-restrictive (supplementary): Adds extra information about an already identified entity; separated by commas.
Београд, који је главни град Србије, лежи на двема рекама.

3. Distinguishing Similar Forms
• Use који for specific nouns. Do not use ко after an ordinary noun (say човек који зна, not *човек ко зна).
• For possession ('whose'), use чији instead of the genitive којег.
• When a relative clause refers back to an entire preceding statement rather than a single noun, use што (e.g., Отишао је, што нас је зачудило), not neuter које.

Examples (4)

  1. У биоскопу је филм који дуго чекам.

    The movie that I have been waiting for for a long time is in theaters.

    Word by Word: In cinema is movie which long I-wait.

    'Филм' is masculine inanimate, so its accusative object form in the subclause remains 'који'.

  2. То је кућа у којој сам провео детињство.

    That is the house in which I spent my childhood.

    Word by Word: That is house in which-locative aux-am spent childhood.

    'Кућа' is feminine singular; the preposition 'у' (meaning 'inside of') requires the locative singular feminine ending '-ој'.

  3. Петар је пријатељ којег дуго познајем.

    Petar is a friend whom I have known for a long time.

    Word by Word: Petar is friend whom-masc-anim-acc long I-know.

    Because 'пријатељ' is masculine animate and serves as the direct object of 'познајем', it takes the genitive-accusative form 'којег' (or 'кога').

  4. Разговарао сам са студентима који су положили испит.

    I spoke with the students who passed the exam.

    Word by Word: I-spoke aux-am with students-inst who-nom-pl aux-are passed exam.

    Even though 'студентима' is plural instrumental after 'са', 'који' is nominative plural because it acts as the subject inside the relative clause.

Common Mistakes

  • Making 'који' mirror the case of the antecedent instead of its function in the subclause (case attraction).

    Разговарам са човеком којим живи овде.
    Разговарам са човеком који живи овде.

    Although 'човеком' is in the instrumental case after 'са', the pronoun is the subject of 'живи' and must be in the nominative case ('који').

  • Using the nominative-accusative 'који' for masculine animate beings instead of 'којег' / 'кога'.

    То је лекар који сам јуче упознао.
    То је лекар којег сам јуче упознао.

    For masculine human and animate referents acting as direct objects, standard Serbian requires the genitive-accusative form 'којег' or 'кога'.

  • Omitting the relative pronoun when it functions as an object, mirroring English contact clauses.

    То је књига купио сам јуче.
    То је књига коју сам купио јуче.

    English allows zero-relatives ('the book [that] I bought'), but Serbian strictly requires the pronoun 'коју' every time.

How It Connects

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којиLevel 3Relative Clauses

Learn This First

Relative clauses introduced by 'који' require a solid grasp of noun gender and number agreement, as the relative pronoun matches its antecedent in gender and number while taking the case required by its role within the subordinate clause.

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који