To ask "who, what, where, when, why, how," Russian uses a set of question words that go at the front of the sentence, after which the rest of the clause keeps its ordinary statement-like order: Где ты живёшь? ("Where do you live?"). Two things make these harder than they look for an English speaker. First, several of the question words — кто, что, чей, како́й, кото́рый — are pronouns that decline, so they change shape to match the grammatical role they play (Кого́ ты ви́дел? "Whom did you see?"). Second, Russian splits some categories more finely than English: there are three words for "where" depending on motion, and two words for "why" depending on whether you mean cause or purpose.
The question words
| Word | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| кто | who | declines (кого́, кому́, кем, ком) |
| что | what | declines (чего́, чему́, чем, чём) |
| где | where (location) | "at what place" |
| куда́ | where (to) | direction / motion toward |
| отку́да | where from | source / motion away |
| когда́ | when | |
| почему́ | why (cause) | asks the reason behind |
| отчего́ | why (cause) | more literary synonym of почему́ |
| заче́м | why (purpose) | asks "what for / to what end" |
| как | how | |
| ско́лько | how much / how many | governs the genitive |
| како́й | which / what kind of | declines, agrees like an adjective |
| чей | whose | declines, agrees like an adjective |
| кото́рый | which (one of several) | declines; also "what time" |
Word order: question word first, then statement order
The pattern is simple: the question word leads, and everything after it stays in its normal statement arrangement. There is no "do" auxiliary and no subject-verb inversion to engineer. English builds a wh-question by fronting the wh-word and inverting ("Where do you live?", "When does it start?"); Russian fronts the wh-word and then just continues as if it were a statement. So the move you make is half of the English one: take "ты живёшь" ("you live"), put где in front, and you are done — Где ты живёшь? The word order after the question word is as flexible as it always is in Russian, which means you'll also hear Где живёшь ты? for emphasis, but the neutral, safe order is the statement order.
Где ты живёшь?
Where do you live? (где first, then the statement ты живёшь)
Кто э́то сде́лал?
Who did this? (кто as subject, normal order follows)
Когда́ начина́ется фильм?
When does the film start?
The pronominal words decline — match the case to the verb
This is the engine of the page. кто, что, чей, како́й, кото́рый are not frozen — they take whatever case the verb or preposition requires, exactly the case the answer would be in. Ask yourself what role the missing piece plays — subject, object, recipient, instrument? — then choose the matching case.
Кого́ ты ви́дел вчера́ на ры́нке?
Who(m) did you see at the market yesterday? (accusative кого́ — direct object)
Кому́ ты звони́шь так по́здно?
Who(m) are you calling so late? (dative кому́ — звони́ть governs the dative)
Чем ты пи́шешь — ру́чкой и́ли карандашо́м?
What are you writing with — a pen or a pencil? (instrumental чем — the means)
О чём вы спо́рите?
What are you arguing about? (preposition о fronted, prepositional чём — Russian never strands the preposition)
како́й, чей and кото́рый are adjectival — they agree in gender, number, and case with their noun (Каку́ю кни́гу ты чита́ешь? "Which book are you reading?" — feminine accusative). See чей, како́й, кото́рый.
Where, to where, from where: где / куда́ / отку́да
English overloads "where" onto both location and direction ("Where are you?" vs "Where are you going?"). Russian keeps three distinct words:
- где — at what place (static location): Где ты? ("Where are you?")
- куда́ — to where (motion toward): Куда́ ты идёшь? ("Where are you going?")
- отку́да — from where (motion away / origin): Отку́да ты? ("Where are you from?")
— Куда́ ты так спеши́шь? — На рабо́ту, опа́здываю.
— Where are you rushing off to? — To work, I'm late. (куда́ — motion toward)
Отку́да ты зна́ешь мою́ сестру́?
How do you know my sister? (literally 'from where' — отку́да for the source of knowledge)
The choice between these three is driven by the verb's meaning, not by the English translation. Verbs of being and resting (быть, жить, находи́ться, рабо́тать) take где; verbs of motion toward a goal (идти́, е́хать, лете́ть, положи́ть, пое́хать) take куда́; verbs of coming or originating take отку́да. A useful test: if the answer would naturally use "в/на + prepositional" (a location), the question is где; if the answer would use "в/на + accusative" (a destination), the question is куда́. So Где ты? → Я до́ма (location), but Куда́ ты? → Я домо́й (destination, with the special directional form домо́й).
Two whys: почему́ (cause) vs заче́м (purpose)
Russian distinguishes asking for the cause from asking for the purpose. почему́ asks "for what reason / why is this so?" (looking backward at the cause). заче́м asks "what for / to what end?" (looking forward at the goal).
Почему́ ты опозда́л? — Проспа́л, буди́льник не сраба́тал.
Why were you late? — I overslept, the alarm didn't go off. (почему́ — the cause)
Заче́м ты покупа́ешь сто́лько хле́ба?
What are you buying so much bread for? (заче́м — the purpose)
A fixed expression: Как дела́?
Как дела́? ("How are you / how are things?") is a frozen greeting — literally "how [are the] affairs?" with дела́ in the plural. Don't analyse it; learn it whole. Natural replies include Хорошо́, спаси́бо ("Fine, thanks") or Норма́льно ("Okay").
— Приве́т! Как дела́? — Норма́льно, а у тебя́?
— Hi! How are you? — Okay, and you? (Как дела́ is a set phrase)
The distinguishing insight: the question word "knows" its case
English wh-words are nearly frozen — only the relic who/whom still inflects, and most speakers have dropped even that, leaning on prepositions and word order instead ("Who are you giving it to?"). So an English speaker's instinct is to grab "who" or "what" in one fixed shape and let the rest of the sentence sort out the grammar. Russian works the opposite way: it leaves the preposition in front and bends the pronoun to fit its role. The habit to build is mechanical and reliable — first identify the grammatical role of the unknown (subject? object? recipient? instrument? object of a preposition?), then put кто/что into the matching case. Once that reflex is automatic, every wh-question in the language is assembled the same way. The finer category splits (где/куда́/отку́да, почему́/заче́м) are just Russian asking you to specify what English left vague.
Common Mistakes
❌ Кто ты ви́дел на фо́то?
The direct object 'whom' is the animate accusative кого́, not the nominative кто.
✅ Кого́ ты ви́дел на фо́то?
Who(m) did you see in the photo?
❌ Где ты идёшь?
For motion toward, use куда́, not где (which is static location).
✅ Куда́ ты идёшь?
Where are you going?
❌ Что вы говори́те о?
Russian never strands the preposition; front it and use the prepositional: О чём вы говори́те?
✅ О чём вы говори́те?
What are you talking about?
❌ Заче́м по́езд опозда́л?
A train can't have a purpose — asking the cause needs почему́, not заче́м.
✅ Почему́ по́езд опозда́л?
Why was the train late?
❌ Как твои́ дела́ есть?
Don't invent a verb 'to be' — the present is omitted, and the greeting is fixed: Как дела́?
✅ Как дела́?
How are you?
Key Takeaways
- Question word first, then ordinary statement order — no "do," no inversion.
- The pronominal words кто, что, чей, како́й, кото́рый decline: put them in the case the verb or preposition governs (Кого́? Кому́? Чем? О чём?).
- Russian never strands prepositions — front the preposition and inflect the pronoun (О чём?, Кому́?).
- "Where" splits three ways: где (location), куда́ (to), отку́да (from).
- "Why" splits two ways: почему́ (cause) vs заче́м (purpose).
- Как дела́? is a fixed greeting — learn it whole.
Now practice Russian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Russian→Related Topics
- 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.
- Yes/No QuestionsA1 — Russian turns a statement into a yes/no question with intonation alone — no word-order change, no auxiliary, no inversion. Он до́ма (He's home) becomes Он до́ма? simply by a sharp rise (the ИК-3 pattern) on the key word, and shifting the rise shifts what's being questioned. The optional particle ли (verb fronted: Зна́ете ли вы…?) marks a formal or written register. Answering is Да / Нет, with a famous wrinkle in negative questions, and verb-repetition (Придёшь? — Приду́) for natural 'yes/no'.
- Indirect QuestionsB1 — Embedded ('indirect') questions in Russian keep the question word and never add 'if/whether'. Wh-questions reuse the question word after a comma: Я не зна́ю, где он; Спроси́, когда́ начина́ется. Yes/no questions embed with the particle ли, verb-first: Я не зна́ю, придёт ли он; Спроси́, есть ли биле́ты. There's always a comma before the embedded clause and no inversion. The single biggest trap for English speakers: never use е́сли for 'whether' — е́сли is the conditional 'if'. Use ли.