коме / кога / киме

Questions About Case Roles

Level 3Sounds Like kome; koga; kime

Just as nouns decline across cases, the interrogative pronoun ко (who) inflects to ask questions about people in different grammatical roles: кога (Genitive/Accusative), коме (Dative/Locative), and киме / ким (Instrumental).

How It Works

In Serbian, questions inquiring about people decline according to syntactic case roles. The base animate interrogative pronoun is ко (who), which triggers masculine singular agreement on verbs by default.

1. Forms by Case:
• Genitive & Accusative: кога (variant: ког, differing only by an optional mobile vowel / покретни вокал; both are stressed, full forms). Use this for direct objects (transitive verbs) or verbs/prepositions requiring the genitive (e.g., сећати се, бојати се, од, без).
• Dative & Locative: коме (variant: ком, with an omitted mobile vowel). In standard Serbian, коме serves as both the dative of the recipient/addressee and the locative complement after prepositions like о (about). The variant кому is archaic or regional in Serbian.
• Instrumental: киме or ким (again distinguished by the mobile vowel). Frequently preceded by с / са to ask about accompaniment (with whom). Both forms are standard and fully stressed.

2. Prepositional Order:
Prepositions always precede the pronoun directly (e.g., о коме, са ким, од кога). Unlike negative indefinite pronouns (like ни са ким), the question words кога, коме, and киме are never split by the preposition.

Examples (5)

  1. Кога си видео јуче испред позоришта?

    Whom did you see yesterday in front of the theatre?

    Word by Word: Whom did-you see yesterday in-front-of theatre?

    Direct object of 'видети' (to see) requiring the accusative form 'кога'.

  2. Коме шаљеш ово писмо?

    To whom are you sending this letter?

    Word by Word: To-whom you-send this letter?

    Recipient of the action governed by the dative form 'коме'.

  3. О коме сте толико дуго причали?

    Whom were you talking about for so long?

    Word by Word: About whom were so long talked?

    Preposition 'о' (about) requires the locative form 'коме'.

  4. Са ким идеш на концерт у суботу?

    Who are you going to the concert with on Saturday?

    Word by Word: With whom you-go to concert on Saturday?

    Preposition 'са' (with) requires the instrumental form 'ким' or 'киме' for accompaniment.

  5. Од кога си добио тај поклон?

    From whom did you get that gift?

    Word by Word: From whom did-you get that gift?

    Preposition 'од' (from) takes the genitive form 'кога'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative 'ко' for direct or indirect objects.

    Ко си срео у граду?
    Кога си срео у граду?

    Because 'срести' (to meet/encounter) requires a direct object, the pronoun must be in the accusative case ('кога'), not the nominative ('ко').

  • Dropping the preposition 'с / са' when asking about accompaniment.

    Ким путујеш на море?
    С ким путујеш на море?

    Expressing companionship or doing something together requires the sociative preposition 'с' or 'са' before 'ким' / 'киме'.

  • Using 'кога' instead of the possessive pronoun 'чији' to ask 'whose'.

    Кога је ова књига?
    Чија је ова књига?

    To ask whose property something is, use the possessive pronoun 'чији / чија / чије', not the genitive of 'ко'.

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коме / кога / кимеLevel 3Questions About Case Roles

Learn This First

To choose the appropriate declined form of the question word 'ко' ('кога', 'коме', 'киме'), learners must be familiar with the base question word 'ко' and understand the case roles that direct objects, recipients, and instrumental complements fulfill in a sentence.

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Words in This Pattern

кокомекогакиме