čí / čia / čie
Whose
Čí means whose. Like môj, it changes to match the thing that belongs to someone, not the owner.
How It Works
Forms in the nominative.
- čí – masculine: Čí je ten kabát?
- čia – feminine: Čia je tá taška?
- čie – neuter: Čie je to auto?
- plural: čie for most nouns (Čie sú tie kľúče?), čí for men (Čí sú to synovia?)
Other cases. Čí takes the endings of soft adjectives like cudzí: Čiu knihu čítaš? (feminine accusative), Čieho psa si videl? (masculine animate accusative).
Word order. Čí usually opens the question, often followed by je to or je ten/tá/to: Čí je to kabát?
Answers. Use a possessive pronoun or a possessive adjective: Môj. Moja. Petrov. Mamina. (see possessive adjectives), or a genitive: To je kabát môjho brata.
Inside a sentence. Čí can start an indirect question, after a comma: Neviem, čí je ten mobil.
Examples (6)
- Čí je to kabát?
Whose coat is this?
Word by Word: Whose is it coat?
- Čia je tá taška? – Moja.
Whose bag is that? – Mine.
Word by Word: Whose is that bag? – Mine.
- Čie je to auto pred domom?
Whose car is that in front of the house?
Word by Word: Whose is that car before house?
- Čie sú tie kľúče? – Petrove.
Whose keys are these? – Peter's.
Word by Word: Whose are those keys? – Peter's.
- Čiu knihu čítaš?
Whose book are you reading?
Word by Word: Whose-ACC book you-read?
Kniha is feminine and in the accusative, so čiu.
- Neviem, čí je ten mobil.
I don't know whose phone that is.
Word by Word: I-don't-know, whose is that mobile.
Common Mistakes
Using the masculine form for a feminine noun.
Čí je tá taška?Čia je tá taška?Taška is feminine, so the question word is čia.
Using the feminine form for a plural.
Čia sú tie kľúče?Čie sú tie kľúče?Kľúče is plural and not a group of men, so use čie.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Whose, learn My, Your and Our. čí asks about the owner, whom possessives name.
Related Patterns
- -ov / -inPossessive Adjectives in -ov and -in
Answers like Petrov or mamin.
Level 3 - Soft Adjectives Like cudzí
Čí takes the same endings as cudzí.
Level 2 - kto / čoWho and What
The basic question words for who and what.
Level 1 - Possession With the Genitive
Another way to answer: kabát môjho brata.
Level 2 - Indirect Questions
Čí can also start a question inside a sentence.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice čí / čia / čie in Bubblegum
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