koliko vs koji vs kakav (how much / which / what kind)

English question words blur several distinctions that Serbian makes overtly. Колико asks for an amount, number, or degree; који selects an identity from a set; какав asks about quality, type, or character. A fourth related form, колики, asks about size or magnitude and agrees like an adjective.

The decisive issue is not whether English says what, which, how many, or how much. Ask what kind of answer would satisfy the question: a quantity, one identified option, a description, or a measurement of size.

The decision tree

1. Would a number, amount, price, duration, or degree answer the question? Use колико.
2. Are you asking the listener to identify or select an item from a relevant set? Use an agreeing form of који.
3. Are you asking what the person or thing is like, or what type is wanted? Use an agreeing form of какав.
4. Are you asking how large, extensive, or great something is? Use колики, not quantity колико.

koliko: quantity, number, and degree

Колико is invariant in its ordinary interrogative use. With a count noun it normally introduces a genitive plural; with a mass noun it introduces a partitive genitive.

The forms гостију, воде, карата are not arbitrary dictionary forms. Quantity creates a partitive/counting phrase, so the noun takes the case required by the quantity construction. The numeral government page explains the wider agreement patterns.

Колико also stands alone or modifies an adverbial scale:

A preposition can govern the whole quantity phrase while колико remains unchanged:

The preposition са contributes instrumental meaning, while колега remains in the quantity form, genitive plural. This nested structure is a genuine difficulty: the visible noun does not simply copy the case normally found after the preposition.

koji: selecting or identifying

Који means “which one/which identified item?” It behaves like an adjective, agreeing with its noun in gender, number, and case. The relevant set may have been mentioned, be visible, or simply be obvious from the situation.

The endings reveal the role: nominative masculine који аутобус, accusative feminine коју књигу, instrumental masculine којим возом. English which never changes, so learners must consciously apply Serbian agreement and case.

Који број? asks for an identifier or a selected number: a bus number, room number, or phone extension. Колико? asks for a numerical amount.

Likewise, који по реду? asks ordinal position: “which in sequence?” It is not the same as asking how many items exist.

kakav: quality, type, and character

Какав asks for a description or category: what someone or something is like, or what kind is desired. It too agrees in gender, number, and case: какав, каква, какво; какви, какве, каква, with declined forms such as каквом.

The expected answers are properties or types, not identities. Contrast the same noun:

English may use what is your table like?, what kind of table?, or occasionally how is the table? Serbian keeps какав “what kind/what properties” apart from како “how/in what manner or condition.” Како је Марко? asks how Marko is feeling; Какав је Марко? asks what kind of person he is.

koliki: size rather than count

When the target is the size, extent, or magnitude of one entity, use the agreeing adjective колики. This is not merely a declined form of invariant quantity колико.

Compare the following pair. The first asks for a count; the second asks for a dimension.

One noun, three different questions

The following set makes the semantic contrast visible:

Колико requests a count and makes соба genitive plural. Коју selects one identifiable room and is accusative feminine singular because it is the object of погледате. Какву asks for desired properties and takes the same accusative agreement.

Question phrases normally move together. A preposition stays with the interrogative phrase, and the answer normally uses the same government:

The page on wh-questions covers broader question word order and clitic placement.

Common Mistakes

Leaving the noun in nominative after koliko

Treating koji as invariant English “which”

Using koji when the answer should describe a type

Using koliko for the size of one object

Quick diagnostic exercise

Choose колико, a correctly declined form of који, a correctly declined form of какав, or колики.

1. You need the number of participants.

2. Three coats are on a rack; identify Ana's.

3. Ask about the atmosphere at a concert.

4. Ask the floor area of one office.

5. Ask which tool someone worked with.

Key Takeaways

• Колико asks quantity, count, price, duration, or degree and commonly triggers genitive in the following noun phrase.
• Који selects or identifies; какав requests a property or type. Both agree in gender, number, and case.
• Колики asks size or magnitude and also agrees.
• Reconstruct the likely answer before choosing: number, identity, description, or dimension.