Headless Relative Clauses
A headless relative clause (слободна односна реченица) functions directly as a subject, object, or modifier in a sentence without modifying an antecedent noun or pronoun. It translates to 'whoever', 'whatever', 'what', or 'he who'. In Serbian, using a headless clause is strictly governed by the Case Matching Requirement.
How It Works
A headless relative clause (односна реченица без изречене именице) acts directly as a nominal phrase (DP/CP) in the matrix clause rather than serving as an adnominal descriptive attribute.
1. Semantic Interpretation and Connectors
These clauses denote arbitrary, generic, or generalized referents. They are standard in maxims, proverbs, and everyday general choices:
- ко (animate: 'he who', 'whoever')
- шта / што (inanimate: 'what', 'that which')
- који, чији, какав (adjectival relative pronouns)
- ко год, шта год (free-choice reading: 'whosoever', 'whatsoever')
2. The Case Matching Constraint (Падежно слагање)
Because Serbian relative pronouns inflect across seven cases, dropping the antecedent is syntactically constrained:
- Matching Cases: If both the embedded predicate and matrix predicate assign the same case, omission is completely natural:
[Ко касно дође], неће добити место. (Nominative subject in both clauses)
Узми [шта желиш]. (Accusative object in both clauses) - Case Clash: If the matrix verb requires an oblique case (such as Dative) and the subordinate clause requires Nominative, a headless clause is ungrammatical. The matrix clause must retain an overt correlative pronoun:
❌ *Захвали [ко ти је помогао]. (Main verb demands Dative, subordinate demands Nominative)
✅ Захвали ономе [ко ти је помогао]. - Case Syncretism: Neuter pronouns like шта share identical forms for Nominative and Accusative. Because of this syncretism, a mismatch between Nominative and Accusative is acceptable: Уради [шта је потребно].
3. Headless Relatives vs. Indirect Questions
Do not confuse free relatives with embedded wh-questions. Indirect questions denote propositions or facts (Знам шта се десило = 'I know the answer to what happened'), whereas headless relatives refer to concrete semantic referents and can be substituted by nominal entities (Појео сам шта си скувао = Појео сам храну).
Examples (4)
- Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада.
He who digs a pit for another falls into it himself.
Word by Word: Who for-another pit digs, alone into it falls.
A classic proverbial free relative clause. Both the embedded clause (ко копа) and the matrix clause (пада) assign the nominative case.
- Узми шта год желиш из фрижидера.
Take whatever you want from the fridge.
Word by Word: Take what ever you-want from fridge.
Here 'шта год' serves as the direct object of 'узми' (matrix) and 'желиш' (embedded), both requiring the accusative case.
- Помози коме год можеш.
Help whomever you can.
Word by Word: Help to-whom ever you-can.
The matrix verb 'помози' assigns the dative case, which matches the dative argument required by the embedded context.
- Јасно ми је шта говориш, али се не слажем.
What you are saying is clear to me, but I disagree.
Word by Word: Clear to-me is what you-say, but self not I-agree.
The neuter pronoun 'шта' demonstrates case syncretism between nominative (subject of 'јасно је') and accusative (object of 'говориш').
Common Mistakes
Omitting the demonstrative pronoun when there is a clash between matrix and subordinate cases.
Дао сам књигу ко је тражио.Дао сам књигу ономе ко је тражио.The verb 'дати' requires a recipient in the dative ('ономе'), whereas the subordinate verb 'тражити' requires a subject in the nominative ('ко'). Dropping the antecedent when cases clash violates the Case Matching Requirement.
Using 'кога' for a person who should be the subject of the relative clause.
Different MeaningПозови кога жели да иде.Позови онога ко жели да иде.'Позови кога жели да иде' is correct, but 'кога' is then the object of 'жели': 'call whom he/she wants (to go)'. To mean 'call the one who wants to go', use 'онога ко' with 'ко' as the subject of 'жели': 'Позови онога ко жели да иде.'
How It Connects
Learn This First
To understand headless relative clauses (free relatives), learners must already know how relative clauses work with relative pronouns like 'који' or 'ко', understand the correlative structures ('онај ко', 'оно што') from which an antecedent is omitted, and have a firm grasp of case roles to manage cases required by both the main and subordinate clauses.
- онај ко / оно штоThe One Who and What
Provides the conceptual stepping stone of pairing a demonstrative antecedent with a relative pronoun ('onaј ko' / 'ono što') before dropping the antecedent entirely.
Level 4 - Case Roles in a Sentence
Crucial for handling case mismatches and understanding the dual grammatical role of the relative word (its role inside the relative clause versus the role of the whole headless clause in the matrix sentence).
Level 3
Related Patterns
- ко год / шта год / који годWhoever and Whatever
Pronominal free-choice forms that frequently introduce generalized or arbitrary headless relative clauses.
Level 4 - којиRelative Clauses
Standard headed relative clauses modifying an overt noun antecedent.
Level 3 - Embedded Wh Questions
Syntactically similar dependent clauses that report an indirect question or proposition rather than referring to an entity.
Level 4
Practice Headless Relative Clauses in Bubblegum
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