The reflex that separates a fluent Russian question from a learner's is this: the question word goes into whatever case the sentence's grammar demands. English wh-words barely inflect — only the fading who/whom survives — so an English speaker reaches for "who" or "what" in one frozen shape and lets prepositions and word order carry the role. Russian does the opposite. It keeps the preposition up front and inflects the question word to match its grammatical job. This page deepens the basic question words: how кто/что decline, how the adjectival interrogatives agree, and the case quirks of the place words and ско́лько.
кто and что take the case the verb or preposition governs
кто and что decline through all six cases, and in a question the form you use is dictated by the case the verb or preposition requires — exactly the case the answer would stand in. The procedure is: decide the missing element's role (subject? object? recipient? instrument? object of a preposition?), then pick the matching case.
| Case | кто (who) | что (what) | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | кто | что | subject |
| Genitive | кого́ | чего́ | боя́ться, без, у, нет |
| Dative | кому́ | чему́ | помога́ть, звони́ть, к |
| Accusative | кого́ | что | direct object, в/на (motion) |
| Instrumental | кем | чем | means; с, горди́ться |
| Prepositional | (о) ком | (о) чём | о, в, на (location) |
Кому́ ты звони́шь так по́здно?
Who(m) are you calling so late? (звони́ть governs the dative → кому́)
С кем ты ходи́л в кино́?
Who did you go to the movies with? (с governs the instrumental → с кем)
О чём вы спо́рите?
What are you arguing about? (о governs the prepositional → о чём)
Notice that Russian never leaves the preposition dangling at the end as English does ("Who did you go with?"). The preposition sits in front and the pronoun wears the case it assigns.
The adjectival interrogatives agree: како́й, чей, кото́рый
како́й, чей, and кото́рый behave like adjectives: they agree with their noun in gender, number, and case. So they don't just pick up one case ending — they take the full adjectival paradigm to match whatever noun they question.
В како́м го́роде ты роди́лся?
What city were you born in? (в + prepositional; како́м agrees with the masculine prepositional го́роде)
Чьи э́то ключи́?
Whose keys are these? (чьи agrees with plural ключи́ — чей agrees with the thing owned, not the owner)
Кото́рую кни́гу ты име́л в виду́?
Which book did you mean? (кото́рую = feminine accusative, agreeing with кни́гу)
A construction worth memorising is the genitive of quality with цвет, разме́р, etc.: to ask "what colour / what size?", Russian puts the quality-noun in the genitive, and како́й agrees with it:
Како́го цве́та твоя́ маши́на?
What colour is your car? (literally 'of what colour' — genitive цве́та, with како́го agreeing)
Како́го разме́ра вам ну́жен сви́тер?
What size sweater do you need? (genitive of quality разме́ра)
Place words: где, куда́, отку́да
Russian splits "where" three ways by direction of motion, a distinction English collapses. These are adverbs (they don't decline), but choosing the right one is itself a kind of case logic, since each pairs with location vs. motion.
| Word | Asks | Answer pattern |
|---|---|---|
| где? | where (at)? | location — в/на + prepositional |
| куда́? | where to? | motion toward — в/на + accusative |
| отку́да? | where from? | motion away — из/с + genitive |
Где ты живёшь?
Where do you live? (static location → где)
Куда́ ты идёшь?
Where are you going? (motion toward → куда́)
Отку́да ты узна́л?
How / where did you find that out? (source → отку́да)
ско́лько takes the genitive
The quantity word ско́лько ("how much / how many") governs the genitive of the thing counted — genitive singular for uncountables, genitive plural for countables. This catches English speakers because "how many books" feels like a plain plural.
Ско́лько вре́мени?
What time is it? / How much time? (вре́мени — genitive singular of вре́мя)
Ско́лько книг ты прочита́л за ле́то?
How many books did you read over the summer? (книг — genitive plural)
Common Mistakes
❌ Кто ты помога́ешь?
Incorrect — помога́ть governs the dative, so the question word must be in the dative: Кому́ ты помога́ешь?
✅ Кому́ ты помога́ешь?
Whom are you helping? (dative кому́)
❌ Кто ты ходи́л в кино́ с?
Incorrect twice — don't strand с at the end, and put the pronoun in the instrumental it governs: С кем ты ходи́л в кино́?
✅ С кем ты ходи́л в кино́?
Who did you go to the movies with? (preposition fronted, instrumental кем)
❌ В како́й го́роде ты роди́лся?
Agreement error — како́й must agree with the prepositional го́роде, so it becomes како́м: В како́м го́роде…?
✅ В како́м го́роде ты роди́лся?
What city were you born in? (како́м agrees in the prepositional)
❌ Ско́лько кни́ги ты прочита́л?
Wrong case — ско́лько governs the genitive, so 'books' is the genitive plural книг, not the nominative plural кни́ги.
✅ Ско́лько книг ты прочита́л?
How many books did you read? (genitive plural книг)
Key Takeaways
- кто/что decline through all six cases; in a question they take the case the verb or preposition governs (Кому́? — dative; С кем? — instrumental; О чём? — prepositional). Name the role first, then choose the case.
- The preposition stays in front; Russian never strands it the way English does.
- како́й, чей, кото́рый are adjectival — they agree in gender, number, and case with their noun (В како́м го́роде…?), including the genitive of quality (Како́го цве́та…?).
- Place words split three ways by motion: где (at), куда́ (to), отку́да (from).
- ско́лько governs the genitive of the thing counted (Ско́лько книг? — genitive plural).
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- Кто and Что: Who and WhatA1 — кто (who) asks about animate beings, что (what) about inanimate things. Both DECLINE through all six cases — кто/кого́/кому́/кем/(о) ком and что/чего́/чему́/чем/(о) чём — and the question word takes whatever case the verb or preposition demands (Кому́ ты помога́ешь? — dative). Agreement is fixed: кто triggers masculine-singular verbs (Кто пришёл?), что triggers neuter (Что случи́лось?). The same words head relative clauses as тот, кто and то, что.
- Чей, Какой, Который: Whose, What Kind, WhichA2 — Three adjectival interrogatives that AGREE with their noun in gender, number and case. чей/чья/чьё/чьи asks 'whose?' (Чья э́то кни́га?) and agrees with the thing possessed, not the owner. како́й/кака́я/како́е/каки́е asks 'what kind / which / what a…!' (Како́й фильм? Кака́я пого́да!). кото́рый/кото́рая/кото́рое/кото́рые asks 'which one (of a set)?' (Кото́рый час?) and is the main relative pronoun (челове́к, кото́рый…). The key contrast: како́й asks about quality/type, кото́рый selects from a known set.
- Question Words (Кто, Что, Где, Когда, Почему…)A1 — Russian wh-questions put the question word first, then keep statement-ish order: Где ты живёшь? Кто э́то сде́лал? The pronominal words кто/что/чей/како́й/кото́рый DECLINE — the question word takes whatever case the verb or preposition demands (Кого́ ты ви́дел? Кому́ звони́шь? Чем пи́шешь?). Place words split three ways: где (location), куда́ (to), отку́да (from). The two 'why's differ: почему́ asks the cause, заче́м asks the purpose. Как дела́? is a fixed greeting.
- The Animacy Rule in the AccusativeA2 — The single rule that shapes the Russian accusative: animate objects (people, animals) copy the genitive, inanimate objects (things) copy the nominative. It bites in exactly two places — the masculine singular (ви́жу стол vs ви́жу студе́нта) and the plural of every gender (ви́жу столы́ vs ви́жу студе́нтов/же́нщин/дете́й). Feminine -а/-я singulars are the exception: they take -у/-ю either way. A few nouns are grammatically animate against common sense (ку́кла, ферзь, мертве́ц).