Content questions — the ones that can't be answered with „yes" or „no" — are built around a question word that goes to the front of the clause. Croatian's set maps neatly onto English at first glance (tko „who," što „what," gdje „where"), but two things trip up English speakers immediately. First, the „who/what/which" words decline — tko takes a different shape depending on its grammatical role (Tko? but Koga vidiš?). Second, when a preposition belongs with the question word, the preposition comes to the front too, dragging its question word along — Croatian has nothing like English „who… with?" with a stranded preposition. This page covers the full inventory, the case the question word takes, and the no-stranding rule.
The inventory of question words
| Question word | Meaning | Declines? |
|---|---|---|
| tko | who | yes (koga, komu/kome, kim/kime) |
| što | what | yes (čega, čemu, čim/čime) |
| koji | which / which one | yes (like an adjective, 3 genders) |
| kakav | what kind of | yes (like an adjective, 3 genders) |
| čiji | whose | yes (like an adjective, 3 genders) |
| gdje | where (location) | no |
| kamo / kud(a) | where to (direction) | no |
| odakle | where from | no |
| kada / kad | when | no |
| zašto | why | no |
| kako | how | no |
| koliko | how much / how many | no |
The first five — tko, što, koji, kakav, čiji — are pronouns and inflect for case. The rest are adverbs and never change shape. That single split tells you almost everything about how the word behaves in a question.
The question word goes first
The core word-order rule is simple: the question word opens the clause, and the verb follows immediately after it. There is no „do"-support, no auxiliary flip — just question word + verb + rest.
Gdje stanuješ?
Where do you live? — 'gdje' first, verb 'stanuješ' right after.
Zašto plačeš?
Why are you crying? — no auxiliary, just 'zašto' + verb.
Kada dolazi vlak?
When does the train come? — 'kada' first, then verb, then subject.
Notice there is nothing corresponding to English „do/does/did." Croatian never inserts a helping verb to form a question; the lexical verb sits right behind the question word. Beginners coming from English have to actively suppress the urge to add a „do."
gdje, kamo, odakle — the three „where"s
English flattens location, direction, and origin into one word („where") and patches the difference with prepositions („where… to," „where… from"). Croatian keeps them apart with three distinct words, and this is one of the clearest places where the language is more precise than English.
| Word | Asks about | English |
|---|---|---|
| gdje | static location | where (are you)? |
| kamo (kud/kuda) | direction of motion | where (are you going) to? |
| odakle | origin / source | where (are you) from? |
Gdje si bio cijeli dan?
Where were you all day? — 'gdje' for a static location.
Kamo ideš tako rano?
Where are you off to so early? — 'kamo' for motion toward a goal.
Odakle si? — Iz Splita.
Where are you from? — From Split. — 'odakle' for origin.
tko and što decline — the case follows the verb
Here is the part with no English parallel. tko and što are pronouns, so they take the case their verb (or preposition) assigns — exactly like a noun would. The bare „dictionary" forms tko/što are the nominative (the subject form). When the question word is the object, it switches case.
| Case | who | what |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative (subject) | tko | što |
| Genitive | koga | čega |
| Dative | komu / kome | čemu |
| Accusative (object) | koga | što |
| Locative | (o) kome | (o) čemu |
| Instrumental | kim / kime | čim / čime |
So „Who is coming?" is Tko dolazi? (subject → nominative), but „Whom do you see?" is Koga vidiš? (object → accusative). The same word, two shapes, chosen by its job in the sentence.
Tko je to napravio?
Who did that? — 'tko' is the subject, so nominative.
Koga vidiš ondje?
Whom do you see over there? — direct object → accusative 'koga'.
Komu daješ ključeve?
Who are you giving the keys to? — recipient → dative 'komu'.
Čime pišeš — olovkom ili kemijskom?
What are you writing with — a pencil or a pen? — instrument → instrumental 'čime'.
The full declension and the netko/nitko/svatko family built on tko are laid out on the interrogative tko and što page.
No stranding — the preposition comes to the front
In English you can leave a preposition dangling at the end: „Who are you going with?" „What are you talking about?" „Who is this for?" Croatian cannot do this. A preposition that belongs with the question word is fronted together with it — the preposition and its question word travel as a unit to the start of the clause. This is called „pied-piping," and in Croatian it is obligatory.
S kim ideš u kino?
Who are you going to the cinema with? — 's kim', not 'kim… s'; the preposition leads.
O čemu pričate?
What are you talking about? — 'o čemu' fronted together; no stranded 'about'.
Za koga je ovaj poklon?
Who is this present for? — 'za koga' as a unit; never 'koga… za'.
Notice that the preposition also sets the case of the question word: s (with) demands the instrumental → s kim; o (about) demands the locative → o čemu; za (for) demands the accusative → za koga. The preposition and its case behave exactly as they would with a noun — see prepositions and case.
koji, kakav, čiji — the adjective-like question words
These three behave like adjectives: they agree with their noun in gender, number, and case, and they sit right in front of it.
- koji asks „which one (of a known set)" — a choice among definite options.
- kakav asks „what kind of / what sort of" — about quality or type.
- čiji asks „whose."
Koju knjigu čitaš?
Which book are you reading? — 'koju' agrees with feminine accusative 'knjigu'.
Kakav auto želiš?
What kind of car do you want? — 'kakav' asks about type, agreeing with 'auto'.
Čija je ovo torba?
Whose bag is this? — 'čija' agrees with feminine 'torba'.
The difference between koji and kakav matters: Koji auto? assumes a specific set („which of these cars?"), while Kakav auto? asks for a description („what sort — fast, cheap, electric?").
Common Mistakes
❌ Kim ideš?
Incorrect — the preposition 's' must front with the question word: 'S kim ideš?'.
✅ S kim ideš?
Who are you going with? — the preposition leads, no stranding.
❌ Tko vidiš?
Incorrect — as the object, 'tko' must be accusative 'koga': 'Koga vidiš?'.
✅ Koga vidiš?
Whom do you see? — object → accusative 'koga'.
❌ Što ideš?
Incorrect — for direction use 'kamo': 'Kamo ideš?'. 'Što' means 'what', not 'where to'.
✅ Kamo ideš?
Where are you going? — 'kamo' for motion toward.
❌ Gdje dolaziš? (meaning 'where are you from')
Incorrect — origin needs 'odakle': 'Odakle dolaziš?'.
✅ Odakle dolaziš?
Where do you come from? — 'odakle' for origin.
❌ Što ti pričaš o?
Incorrect — no dangling preposition; front it: 'O čemu pričaš?'.
✅ O čemu pričaš?
What are you talking about? — preposition pied-piped to the front.
Key Takeaways
- The question word goes first, the verb right behind it — there is no „do/does/did" helper in Croatian.
- tko („who") and što („what") decline: nominative as subject (Tko dolazi?), but accusative/dative/instrumental as object (Koga vidiš?, Komu daješ?, Čime pišeš?).
- The three „where"s are kept apart: gdje (location), kamo (direction), odakle (origin).
- No preposition stranding — a preposition fronts together with its question word and sets its case: S kim?, O čemu?, Za koga?
- koji („which"), kakav („what kind"), and čiji („whose") agree with their noun like adjectives.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Yes/No QuestionsA1 — The three ways to ask a Croatian yes/no question — verb + li, rising intonation, and colloquial da li — plus the all-purpose je li and answering by repeating the verb.
- Interrogative Pronouns: tko, što, kojiA1 — Question pronouns 'who', 'what', 'which' and their cases.
- The Question Particle liA2 — The yes/no question particle li in second position, the fixed je li opener and tag, and how it competes with the clitic cluster against colloquial da li and pure intonation questions.
- Prepositions Govern CaseA2 — How each preposition demands a specific case (or two).
- Indirect and Rhetorical QuestionsB1 — Embedded yes/no questions with li or da li, indirect wh-questions that keep their question word, the critical absence of tense backshift, and rhetorical questions with zar and tko zna.
- Sentence IntonationB1 — Statement, question, and the li/wh intonation contours.