Relative Pronouns in Ukrainian

In Brief

Ukrainian normally links a noun to a describing clause with який (“who/which/that”): жінка, яку я знаю (“the woman I know”). Its gender and number match the noun it refers to, but its case—the form showing its job in the clause—depends on what happens inside the relative clause. Що is an indeclinable alternative in many common patterns, while котрий is less neutral and often sounds formal or literary.

Overview

A relative clause gives more information about a person, thing, place, or idea: “the colleague who called” or “the book that I bought.” In Ukrainian, this is a підрядне означальне речення (a subordinate clause that describes a noun). The noun being described is the antecedent—in plain terms, the word that the relative pronoun points back to.

At B1, the central skill is choosing the correct form of який. English often uses who, which, or that, and sometimes leaves the relative word out entirely: “the film I watched.” Ukrainian normally keeps the relative pronoun and changes its ending. Compare фільм, який почався (“the film that began”) with фільм, який я подивився (“the film that I watched”). The form looks the same here only because masculine inanimate nominative and accusative coincide; other examples make the case difference visible.

Relative clauses are extremely common in conversation, news, instructions, and formal writing. They also bring together several parts of Ukrainian grammar: adjective-like agreement, the case required by a verb or preposition, and comma punctuation.

How It Works

The two decisions behind який

Treat який like an adjective. Make two separate decisions:

1. Match gender and number to the antecedent. A masculine noun selects masculine, a feminine noun feminine, a neuter noun neuter, and a plural noun plural.
2. Choose case from the pronoun’s role inside its own clause. Ask whether it is the subject, direct object, recipient, object of a preposition, and so on.

In жінка, яку я знаю, жінка is feminine, so the pronoun must be feminine. Inside я знаю ___, the woman is the direct object (the person affected by “know”), so Ukrainian needs the accusative: яку.

In дім, у якому я живу, дім is masculine. The preposition у in the meaning “in” requires the locative case (the form commonly used for location), so the result is у якому. The case of дім in the main clause does not control the pronoun.

Declension of який

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	який	яка	яке	які
Genitive	якого	якої	якого	яких
Dative	якому	якій	якому	яким
Accusative	який / якого	яку	яке	які / яких
Instrumental	яким	якою	яким	якими
Locative	якому	якій	якому	яких

The two accusative options reflect animacy. Masculine and plural forms referring to people or animals generally follow the genitive pattern (якого, яких); inanimate forms generally follow the nominative pattern (який, які).

The vocative is not normally needed for a relative pronoun because the pronoun is not being used to address anyone.

Case is assigned inside the relative clause

Ukrainian	English	Why this form?
Це студент, який добре співає.	This is a student who sings well.	Subject of співає: nominative masculine.
Це студент, якого я зустрів.	This is the student whom I met.	Animate direct object: accusative masculine.
Це студент, якому я написав.	This is the student I wrote to.	Recipient of написав: dative masculine.
Це студент, з яким я працюю.	This is the student I work with.	з meaning “with” takes instrumental.

This is a major difference from English. English who/that usually gives little or no visible case information, but Ukrainian makes the relation explicit in the ending or in a preposition-plus-pronoun phrase.

Prepositions stay with the pronoun

Put the Ukrainian preposition immediately before the appropriate case form:

• у якому — in which
• на якій — on which / at which
• з яким — with whom / with which
• до якої — to which
• про яких — about whom / which
• без якого — without whom / which

English may place a preposition at the end: “the person I spoke with.” Ukrainian does not copy that pattern. Say людина, з якою я розмовляв, not a clause with a stranded з at the end.

Subject and object relatives

When the relative pronoun is the subject (the person or thing doing the action), use the nominative:

• люди, які прийшли — the people who came
• машина, яка стоїть надворі — the car that is parked outside

When another noun or pronoun is the subject and the relative pronoun is the object, choose the case required by the verb:

• люди, яких ми запросили — the people we invited
• книга, яку вона шукає — the book she is looking for

Unlike English, Ukrainian does not normally omit the object relative pronoun. “The book I bought” is книга, яку я купив, not книга, я купив.

Using що

Що is indeclinable: it never changes its ending. It is especially natural after broad or indefinite words such as все (“everything”), те (“that which”), щось (“something”), and ніщо (“nothing”):

• Все, що мені потрібно. — Everything I need.
• Це те, що ми обговорювали. — This is what we discussed.

It also occurs as a relative word after ordinary nouns, particularly in speech: пісня, що звучала по радіо (“the song that was playing on the radio”). Який is often clearer when gender, number, case, or a preposition needs to be visible. Do not confuse relative що with conjunction що meaning “that” in Я знаю, що він удома (“I know that he is at home”): the conjunction does not point back to a noun.

Using котрий

Котрий declines like який: котрий, котра, котре, котрі; котрого, котрій, котрими, and so on. In present-day general usage, який is the neutral default. Котрий may appear in formal, literary, or deliberately varied prose, while its interrogative use can mean “which one?” or ask for ordinal time: Котра година? (“What time is it?”).

Do not assume that котрий is automatically more correct. In an ordinary conversation, людина, яка мені допомогла is usually the safest choice.

Commas

A Ukrainian relative clause is normally set off by a comma from the noun it describes:

• Я прочитав лист, який ти надіслала.
• Будинок, у якому вони жили, уже продали.

If the clause interrupts the main sentence, use a comma at both ends. This differs from English punctuation, where restrictive relative clauses often appear without commas. Do not transfer the English distinction mechanically: Ukrainian subordinate relative clauses are generally comma-separated.

Examples in Context

Ukrainian	English	Note
Жінка, яку я знаю, працює в лікарні.	The woman I know works at a hospital.	Feminine accusative object.
Дім, у якому я живу, дуже старий.	The house in which I live is very old.	Masculine locative after у.
Люди, які прийшли раніше, уже чекають.	The people who arrived earlier are already waiting.	Plural subject.
Все, що мені потрібно, лежить у сумці.	Everything I need is in the bag.	Natural все, що pattern.
Ось книжка, яку ти радила.	Here is the book you recommended.	Ukrainian retains the object pronoun.
Ми зустріли лікаря, який лікував мого брата.	We met the doctor who treated my brother.	Pronoun is the subject, although лікаря is accusative in the main clause.
Це лікар, якому я довіряю.	This is the doctor I trust.	Довіряти requires dative.
Колега, з якою я працюю, живе поруч.	The colleague I work with lives nearby.	Feminine instrumental after з.
Вони показали фото міста, до якого їдуть.	They showed a photo of the city they are traveling to.	Neuter genitive after до.
Це питання, про яке ми говорили вчора.	This is the issue we talked about yesterday.	Neuter accusative after про.
Друзі, яких ми запросили, прийдуть о сьомій.	The friends we invited will come at seven.	Animate plural accusative.
Я повернув ключі, які знайшов у коридорі.	I returned the keys that I found in the hallway.	Inanimate plural accusative.
Це те, чого я боявся.	This is what I was afraid of.	Чого is the genitive form of що in this fused “what” construction, not indeclinable relative що.
Авторка, чия стаття перемогла, отримала нагороду.	The author whose article won received an award.	Possessive relative чий agrees with стаття.

Common Mistakes

Matching the pronoun’s case to the main noun

• Wrong: Я бачив жінку, яка ти знаєш.
• Right: Я бачив жінку, яку ти знаєш.
• Why: In the main clause, жінку is the object of “saw.” Inside the relative clause, the same woman is also the object of “know,” so яку is required. Always analyze the two clauses separately.

Using nominative for every relative pronoun

• Wrong: Це друг, який я написав.
• Right: Це друг, якому я написав.
• Why: Ukrainian писати комусь uses the dative for the recipient: “write to someone.”

Copying English preposition placement

• Wrong: Людина, яку я говорив з.
• Right: Людина, з якою я говорив.
• Why: Ukrainian places the preposition before the relative pronoun and gives the pronoun the required case.

Dropping an object relative pronoun

• Wrong: Фільм, ми дивилися вчора, був цікавий.
• Right: Фільм, який ми дивилися вчора, був цікавий.
• Why: English can say “the film we watched,” but standard Ukrainian needs the linking relative form.

Forgetting animacy in the accusative

• Wrong: Студенти, які ми запросили...
• Right: Студенти, яких ми запросили...
• Why: The invited students are animate plural direct objects, so accusative matches genitive яких.

Following English comma rules

• Wrong: Книга яку ти дав мені цікава.
• Right: Книга, яку ти дав мені, цікава.
• Why: Ukrainian normally separates the relative clause with commas; an inserted clause needs a closing comma too.

Usage Notes

Який is the most useful all-purpose choice for people and things. It clearly shows agreement and case and works across everyday and formal contexts. Repeating it many times in polished prose can sound heavy, so writers sometimes restructure a sentence or vary the connector, but learners should prioritize clarity over artificial variation.

Що often makes a clause lighter. It is firmly established after pronouns such as все and те and is common after nouns as well. However, because it does not display gender, number, or case, a complicated sentence may be easier to follow with який. Register and rhythm matter more than a simplistic rule that one form is “correct” and the other “incorrect.”

Relative pronouns can refer to people as well as objects: який is not limited to English “which.” Likewise, Ukrainian does not require separate basic forms corresponding neatly to English who, whom, and which. The Ukrainian case ending carries much of that information.

Beyond the Basics: Possession and More Complex Clauses

The possessive relative pronoun чий means “whose.” It agrees in gender, number, and case with the thing possessed, not with its owner:

• чоловік, чия донька навчається тут — the man whose daughter studies here
• компанія, чиї офіси розташовані в Києві — the company whose offices are in Kyiv
• письменниця, чий роман я читаю — the writer whose novel I am reading

Here чия matches feminine донька, чиї matches plural офіси, and чий matches masculine роман. The antecedent’s own gender does not decide the form.

Be careful with constructions such as те, чого я хочу (“what I want”) and те, про що ми говорили (“what we talked about”). In these free relative patterns—clauses functioning like a noun without an ordinary antecedent—forms of хто/що are used according to case: чого, чому, чим; кого, кому, ким. This does not mean that ordinary indeclinable relative що has suddenly acquired a full declension. It is a related but distinct construction.

A relative clause can also contain several layers of grammar:

• Це людина, якій я хотів би подякувати — This is the person I would like to thank.
• Ми обрали маршрут, яким можна швидше дістатися центру — We chose a route by which one can reach the center faster.

At an advanced level, style may favor a participial phrase or two shorter sentences instead of a long chain of relative clauses. Nevertheless, a correctly declined relative pronoun remains the clearest solution in most everyday situations.

Practice Tips

1. Use a two-question check. For each example, ask: “What noun does the pronoun refer to?” to get gender/number, then “What job does it do inside its clause?” to get case.
2. Build one noun through several cases. Start with друг, який прийшов, then make друг, якого я бачив, друг, якому я написав, and друг, з яким я говорив. This separates agreement from case choice.
3. Rewrite English-style relatives. Take sentences with omitted pronouns or final prepositions—“the café we met in”—and produce the full Ukrainian structure: кафе, у якому ми зустрілися.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Complex Sentences — introduces main and subordinate clauses and the connectors that join them.
• Later development: Complex Sentence Structures — extends relative clauses into longer, multi-clause patterns.
• Stylistic extension: Literary/Bookish Forms — explores formal and literary choices, including котрий.