Relative Clauses in Russian

In Brief

A Russian relative clause adds information about a person, thing, place, or time. The main linking word is который (“who,” “which,” or “that”): it agrees with the noun it describes in gender and number, but its case depends on its job inside the relative clause. Russian normally puts a comma before the relative clause: Книга, которую я читаю, интересная (“The book that I am reading is interesting”).

Overview

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or describes a noun: “the neighbour who called” or “the café where we met.” In Russian, the most useful relative word is который. It can refer to people as well as things, so it covers the work of English who, which, and that.

This topic appears at A2 because the basic pattern is simple once you can recognise Russian gender and cases. The challenge is that English often leaves the relative word unchanged—or even omits it—while Russian changes который. Compare человек, который звонил (“the person who called”) with книга, которую я читаю (“the book that I am reading”).

Russian also uses где for places, когда for times, and что especially after words such as то (“that/the thing”) and всё (“everything”). These alternatives can make everyday sentences shorter, but который remains the safest general choice after an ordinary noun.

How It Works

The basic pattern

A typical sentence contains:

noun + comma + relative word + relative clause

• Это студент, который изучает русский язык. — “This is a student who studies Russian.”
• Вот фильм, который мы смотрели вчера. — “Here is the film that we watched yesterday.”

The noun being described is the antecedent (the earlier noun that the relative word points back to). In the first sentence, студент is the antecedent of который.

Two decisions: agreement and case

To choose the right form of который, make two separate decisions.

1. Copy the antecedent’s gender and number.
   студент → masculine singular; книга → feminine singular; место → neuter singular; люди → plural.
2. Choose the case from the relative clause itself. A case is a noun or pronoun form showing its role. Ask what который is doing after the comma: is it the subject (the doer), the direct object (the person or thing directly affected), or the object of a preposition?

The antecedent’s own case does not determine the case of который:

• Я знаю человека, который здесь работает.
  человека is accusative in the main clause, but который is nominative because he performs работает.
• Я говорю с человеком, которого ты знаешь.
  человеком is instrumental after с, but которого is accusative because “you know him.”

Forms of который

Case and usual role	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative: subject	который	которая	которое	которые
Genitive: “of,” absence, many quantities	которого	которой	которого	которых
Dative: recipient, “to/for”	которому	которой	которому	которым
Accusative: direct object	который / которого	которую	которое	которые / которых
Instrumental: means/company, “with/by”	которым	которой / которою	которым	которыми
Prepositional: after о, в, на and others	котором	которой	котором	которых

The two masculine and plural accusative forms follow the normal Russian animacy rule: use the genitive-like form for animate referents and the nominative-like form for inanimate ones.

• человек, которого я встретил — “the person whom I met”
• фильм, который я посмотрел — “the film that I watched”
• люди, которых мы пригласили — “the people whom we invited”
• фильмы, которые мы посмотрели — “the films that we watched”

Subject or object?

If который does the action, use the nominative:

• девушка, которая позвонила — “the woman who called”
• окно, которое выходит во двор — “the window that faces the courtyard”

If someone else does the action to the referent, use the accusative or another case required by the verb:

• девушка, которую я встретил — “the woman whom I met”
• коллега, которому я написал — “the colleague whom I wrote to”

English can omit an object relative word: “the book I bought.” Standard Russian cannot simply omit который: use книга, которую я купил.

Prepositions stay with который

When the verb or expression needs a preposition, place it directly before the appropriate form:

• дом, в котором мы живём — “the house in which/where we live”
• тема, о которой мы говорили — “the topic that we talked about”
• друг, с которым я путешествовал — “the friend I travelled with”
• причина, из-за которой встречу отменили — “the reason because of which the meeting was cancelled”

This may sound more formal in English, where a preposition often comes at the end. In Russian, do not strand the preposition at the end of the clause.

Где for places

After a noun naming a place, где (“where”) is often a natural alternative to в котором or на котором:

• город, где я родился — “the city where I was born”
• кафе, где мы встретились — “the café where we met”

Use который when the exact preposition matters or when the relationship is not simply location:

• город, из которого мы уехали — “the city we left/from which we departed”
• мост, через который мы перешли — “the bridge that we crossed”

Replacing these with где would lose the meaning carried by из (“from”) or через (“across”).

Когда for times

After a word for a time, period, or occasion, когда (“when”) is common:

• день, когда мы познакомились — “the day when we met”
• время, когда все уже спали — “a time when everyone was already asleep”

A form of который is also possible when a preposition expresses a more exact relationship: день, после которого всё изменилось (“the day after which everything changed”).

Что after то, всё, and similar words

Use что naturally after broad or demonstrative words such as то (“that/the thing”), всё (“everything”), and единственное (“the only thing”):

• Я понял то, что ты сказал. — “I understood what you said.”
• Это всё, что мне нужно. — “That is everything I need.”
• Единственное, что меня беспокоит, — это цена. — “The only thing that worries me is the price.”

After an ordinary concrete noun, beginners should normally choose который: книга, которую я читаю. Invariant что can replace который in some colloquial or literary patterns, but it does not show gender or case and is not the best neutral default.

Commas

Russian normally separates a relative clause with commas, even where English uses no comma for an identifying clause:

• Студент, который сидит у окна, говорит по-испански.
• Я нашёл ключи, которые потерял вчера.

If the clause interrupts the main sentence, use a comma at both ends. Do not put a comma between a preposition and который: write дом, в котором..., not дом, в, котором....

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
Человек, который звонил, оставил сообщение.	The person who called left a message.	Masculine subject: который
Книга, которую я читаю, очень интересная.	The book that I am reading is very interesting.	Feminine direct object: которую
Это письмо, которое пришло утром.	This is the letter that arrived this morning.	Neuter subject: которое
Люди, которые живут рядом, очень дружелюбные.	The people who live nearby are very friendly.	Plural subject: которые
Я встретил преподавателя, которого ты знаешь.	I met the teacher whom you know.	Animate masculine object: которого
Вот коллега, которой я отправил документы.	Here is the colleague to whom I sent the documents.	Feminine dative: которой
Дом, в котором мы живём, построили недавно.	The house we live in was built recently.	Prepositional after в
Это друг, с которым я ездил в Казань.	This is the friend I went to Kazan with.	Instrumental after с
Мы обсудили вопрос, о котором ты писал.	We discussed the issue you wrote about.	Prepositional after о
Город, где я родился, находится на юге.	The city where I was born is in the south.	где after a place
Я помню день, когда мы впервые встретились.	I remember the day when we first met.	когда after a time word
Это всё, что я хотел сказать.	That is everything I wanted to say.	что after всё
Фильмы, которые мы посмотрели, были короткими.	The films that we watched were short.	Inanimate plural accusative
Соседи, которых мы пригласили, уже пришли.	The neighbours whom we invited have already arrived.	Animate plural accusative

Common Mistakes

Copying the antecedent’s case

• Wrong: Я знаю человека, которого здесь работает.
• Right: Я знаю человека, который здесь работает.
• Why: The main clause needs человека, but inside the relative clause the person is the subject of работает, so который is nominative.

Ignoring gender

• Wrong: Книга, который лежит на столе...
• Right: Книга, которая лежит на столе...
• Why: Книга is feminine, so the relative pronoun must be feminine singular.

Using nominative for a direct object

• Wrong: Книга, которая я читаю...
• Right: Книга, которую я читаю...
• Why: “I” is the subject; the book is what I am reading. That makes которую a feminine accusative object.

Omitting the relative pronoun as in English

• Wrong: Фильм, мы смотрели вчера, был длинный.
• Right: Фильм, который мы смотрели вчера, был длинный.
• Why: English permits “the film we watched,” but standard Russian requires a linking relative word here.

Leaving the preposition behind

• Wrong: человек, который я говорил с
• Right: человек, с которым я говорил
• Why: Russian places the preposition before the relative pronoun, and с meaning “with” requires the instrumental case.

Forgetting commas

• Wrong: Девушка которая работает здесь говорит по-французски.
• Right: Девушка, которая работает здесь, говорит по-французски.
• Why: The relative clause is set off by commas in Russian writing.

Usage Notes

Который is neutral and works in speech and writing. Repeating it many times in a long text can sound heavy, so Russian writers may recast a sentence or choose где and когда where their meanings fit. For a learner, however, an accurate form of который is better than an uncertain shortcut.

With a place noun, где often sounds more conversational than в котором: кафе, где мы встретились. The version with который is not automatically formal; it may simply be more precise. Pay attention to meaning rather than replacing every в котором with где.

The form которою is a longer feminine instrumental variant of которой. You may meet it in literature or elevated writing, but которой is the normal form to learn and use.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A2, but they explain forms you will encounter later.

Relative clauses with чей and кто

Чей means “whose” and agrees with the possessed noun, not with the owner:

• студент, чья сестра живёт в Москве — “the student whose sister lives in Moscow”
• писатель, чьи книги я читаю — “the writer whose books I read”

Forms of кто can appear after words meaning “the one/those” or “everyone”: Те, кто уже закончил, могут идти (“Those who have already finished may leave”). Notice the common singular agreement inside the clause: кто закончил, even though те is plural.

который versus какой

In exclamatory or emphatic descriptions, какой may introduce a clause-like description: Это был день, какого я никогда не забуду (“It was a day unlike any I will ever forget”). This is not the ordinary neutral relative pattern. For everyday identification, continue to use который.

Avoiding ambiguity

A relative clause usually attaches to the nearest suitable noun. If a sentence could point to two nouns, rewrite it:

• Potentially unclear: Я говорил с братом Анны, который живёт в Омске.
• Clear if the brother lives there: Брат Анны, с которым я говорил, живёт в Омске.
• Clear if Anna lives there: Я говорил с братом Анны, которая живёт в Омске.

Russian agreement often resolves ambiguity, but not always—especially when both possible antecedents have the same gender and number.

Restrictive meaning and punctuation

English distinguishes “the students who passed” from “the students, who passed” through commas. Russian punctuation does not mirror this contrast: relative clauses introduced by который are normally comma-separated. Context and wording show whether the clause identifies a subset or merely adds information.

Practice Tips

1. Use a two-question check. For every form of который, ask: “What noun does it refer to?” for gender and number, then “What job does it do after the comma?” for case.
2. Transform pairs into one sentence. Turn Я читаю книгу. Книга интересная into Книга, которую я читаю, интересная. Practise once with the relative word as subject and once as object.
3. Build preposition chunks. Learn в котором, о которой, с которыми, and из которого as useful patterns, then replace the noun and adjust agreement.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Conjunctions — introduces how clauses are linked in Russian.
• Next step: Complex Sentence Structures — develops more varied subordinate clauses and more advanced sentence linking.