Colloquial čo for ktorý
Colloquial: ten chlap, čo tam stojí. Standard: ten muž, ktorý tam stojí. Both mean the man who is standing there.
How It Works
Two ways to say who, which and that. Standard Slovak links a relative clause to a noun with ktorý. Ktorý agrees with the noun and takes the case of its role in the clause. In relaxed speech, many people use čo instead, which never changes:
- Colloquial: ten chlap, čo tam stojí
- Standard: ten muž, ktorý tam stojí
How speech shows the case. Because čo cannot change its form, speakers add a personal pronoun that carries the case: tá kniha, čo som ti o nej hovoril (standard: tá kniha, o ktorej som ti hovoril), dom, čo v ňom bývam (standard: dom, v ktorom bývam). A preposition can never go directly before this čo.
Where čo is standard. After words like všetko, niečo, nič, to, the relative word čo is fully standard: Urobím všetko, čo môžem. See relative čo. It is also standard when it refers to a whole clause: Meškal, čo ma nahnevalo.
What to use. Understand the colloquial čo, because you will hear it every day. In writing and formal speech, use ktorý after a noun.
Examples (5)
- Ten chlap, čo tam stojí, je môj sused.
The guy who's standing there is my neighbor.
Word by Word: That guy, what there stands, is my neighbor.
Colloquial speech.
- Ten muž, ktorý tam stojí, je môj sused.
The man who is standing there is my neighbor.
Word by Word: That man, who there stands, is my neighbor.
The standard version.
- To je tá kniha, čo som ti o nej hovoril.
That's the book I told you about.
Word by Word: That is that book, what I-have to-you about it told.
Colloquial: the pronoun o nej shows the case.
- To je tá kniha, o ktorej som ti hovoril.
That's the book I told you about.
Word by Word: That is that book, about which I-have to-you told.
The standard version.
- Urobím všetko, čo môžem.
I'll do everything I can.
Word by Word: I-will-do everything, what I-can.
After všetko, čo is standard.
Common Mistakes
Putting a preposition directly before colloquial čo.
To je dom, v čo bývam.To je dom, v ktorom bývam.Čo cannot take a case ending here. Use v ktorom, or in speech dom, čo v ňom bývam.
Forgetting agreement when switching from čo to ktorý.
Tá žena, ktorý tam stojí, je lekárka.Tá žena, ktorá tam stojí, je lekárka.Ktorý agrees with the noun it refers to. Žena is feminine, so the form is ktorá.
Using ktorý after všetko.
Urobím všetko, ktoré môžem.Urobím všetko, čo môžem.After všetko, niečo and nič, the standard relative word is čo.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Colloquial čo for ktorý, learn Relative Pronoun ktorý and Colloquial Versus Standard Forms. Colloquial čo replaces the relative ktorý. It is a colloquial form.
Related Patterns
- Relative čo After všetko and niečo
Where čo is fully standard: after všetko, niečo and nič.
Level 3 - čo (Referring to a Whole Clause)Which, Referring to a Whole Clause
Standard čo that refers back to a whole clause.
Level 4 - ktorého / ktorej / ktorých (Whose)Whose in Relative Clauses
Whose is expressed with a form of ktorý, which colloquial čo cannot do on its own.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice Colloquial čo for ktorý in Bubblegum
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