Interrogative pronouns are the question words that ask for a missing piece of information: who?, what?, which?, whose?, how many? In English these are mostly fixed words. In Ukrainian they split into two kinds: the invariable-ish core — хто "who" and що "what," which decline for case but have no gender — and the agreeing pronouns який "what kind / which," чий "whose," and котрий "which one," which are full adjectives that change ending to match their noun in gender, number, and case. Getting these right is the difference between sounding like a learner and sounding like a speaker, because Ukrainian, unlike English, makes you decline the question word.
хто "who" and що "what"
These two are the workhorses. хто asks about people, що about things — and both decline through the cases even though they have no gender or number of their own.
| Case | хто (who) | що (what) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | хто | що |
| Genitive | кого́ | чого́ |
| Dative | кому́ | чому́ |
| Accusative | кого́ | що |
| Instrumental | ким | чим |
| Locative | (на) ко́му / кім | (на) чо́му / чім |
The case of the question word matches the role it plays in the answer. "Whom did you see?" needs the accusative кого́, because the answer is the object; "with whom?" needs the instrumental ким, because that is the case the preposition з governs.
Хто це зроби́в?
Who did this? — nominative хто, the subject.
Кого́ ти зустрі́в учо́ра?
Whom did you meet yesterday? — accusative кого́, the object of зустрі́в.
З ким ти йдеш на конце́рт?
Who are you going to the concert with? — instrumental ким after з.
Чого́ ти бої́шся?
What are you afraid of? — genitive чого́, because бої́шся governs the genitive.
A subtlety worth flagging: чому́ is both the dative/locative of що ("to what / about what") and the everyday word for "why?" Context tells them apart — Чому́ ти сумни́й? "Why are you sad?" versus До чо́го це призведе́? where you would use the locative чо́му after a preposition.
хто always takes masculine-singular agreement
This is the trap. хто "who" is grammatically masculine singular, full stop — so any verb or adjective agreeing with it goes masculine singular, even when you are clearly asking about a woman or a group. "Who came?" is Хто прийшо́в? — never Хто прийшла́? — whether the answer turns out to be a man, a woman, or ten people.
Хто прийшо́в так пі́зно?
Who came so late? — masculine прийшо́в is obligatory, even if the answer is a woman or several people.
Хто гото́вий почина́ти?
Who's ready to start? — masculine гото́вий with хто, regardless of who is actually ready.
який "what kind / which" — an agreeing adjective
який / яка́ / яке́ / які́ asks "what kind of?" or "which?" and it is a full adjective: it agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case, declining exactly like a hard-stem adjective. So you do not have one fixed "which" — you have яки́й, яку́, яко́го, яки́м, у яко́му, depending on the noun and the case.
| Case | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | яки́й | яке́ | яка́ | які́ |
| Genitive | яко́го | яко́го | яко́ї | яки́х |
| Dative | яко́му | яко́му | які́й | яки́м |
| Accusative | яки́й / яко́го | яке́ | яку́ | які́ / яки́х |
| Instrumental | яки́м | яки́м | яко́ю | яки́ми |
| Locative | (на) яко́му | (на) яко́му | (на) які́й | (на) яки́х |
Яка́ це кни́га? Я її́ не чита́в.
What book is this? I haven't read it. — яка́, feminine to agree with кни́га.
У яко́му мі́сті ти живе́ш?
What city do you live in? — locative яко́му after у, agreeing with мі́сті.
Яки́м авто́бусом мо́жна дої́хати до це́нтру?
Which bus can I take to get to the centre? — instrumental яки́м авто́бусом, 'by which bus.'
чий "whose" — also agreeing
чий / чия́ / чиє́ / чиї́ "whose" agrees with the thing possessed, not the possessor — exactly like a possessive adjective. Чия́ це су́мка? "Whose bag is this?" uses the feminine чия́ because су́мка is feminine, regardless of whose bag it is.
| Case | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | чий | чиє́ | чия́ | чиї́ |
| Genitive | чийо́го | чийо́го | чиє́ї | чиї́х |
| Dative | чийо́му | чийо́му | чиї́й | чиї́м |
| Instrumental | чиї́м | чиї́м | чиє́ю | чиї́ми |
Чия́ це су́мка лиши́лася на ла́вці?
Whose bag is this, left on the bench? — чия́ feminine, agreeing with су́мка.
Чиї́ це діти бі́гають по коридо́ру?
Whose kids are these, running down the corridor? — чиї́ plural to agree with діти.
котрий "which one (of a set)" and the clock
котрий / котра́ / котре́ / котрі́ also means "which?", but specifically "which one of a known set" — and it declines like який. Its most important fixed use is telling the time: the only natural way to ask the time is Котра́ годи́на? literally "which hour?"
Котри́й з цих за́собів ти ра́диш?
Which of these remedies do you recommend? — котри́й, picking one from a set.
— Котра́ годи́на? — Пів на сьо́му.
'What time is it?' 'Half past six.' — Котра́ годи́на? is the fixed question for the time.
скільки "how much / how many"
скільки asks about quantity and takes the genitive of what it counts — genitive plural for countables, genitive singular for uncountables.
Скі́льки це ко́штує?
How much does this cost? — скі́льки asking a quantity.
Скі́льки люде́й було́ на зу́стрічі?
How many people were at the meeting? — скі́льки + genitive plural люде́й.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, two habits must change. (1) English question words are fixed; Ukrainian ones decline — "who" alone is хто, кого́, кому́, ким, depending on its role, and you must pick the right case (з ким, not з хто). (2) "What kind," "whose," and "which" are *agreeing adjectives in Ukrainian — яки́й, чия́, котри́й change ending with their noun and case (Яко́ю ру́чкою? "with which pen?"), where English just freezes "which / whose." And note that хто is grammatically masculine — Хто прийшо́в? even about a woman, where English "who" carries no gender.
For a Russian speaker, mind the forms: Ukrainian "what" is що (not что), its oblique forms are чого́, чому́, чим; "who" gives кого́, кому́, ким; and "which / what kind" is який, not the Russian какой. Котра́ годи́на? is the standard Ukrainian way to ask the time.
Common Mistakes
❌ Хто прийшла́ на зу́стріч?
Agreement error — хто is grammatically masculine singular, so the verb is прийшо́в even when the person is a woman.
✅ Хто прийшо́в на зу́стріч?
Who came to the meeting? — masculine прийшо́в, the required agreement with хто.
❌ З хто ти розмовля́в?
Case error — after з the form must be instrumental: з ким, not the nominative хто.
✅ З ким ти розмовля́в?
Who were you talking to? — instrumental ким after з.
❌ Яки́й кни́га тобі́ сподо́балася?
Agreement error — кни́га is feminine, so the question word must be яка́, not the masculine яки́й.
✅ Яка́ кни́га тобі́ сподо́балася?
Which book did you like? — яка́ agreeing with feminine кни́га.
❌ Який час зара́з?
Wrong idiom for the clock — Ukrainian asks the time with Котра́ годи́на?, not with час.
✅ Котра́ годи́на?
What time is it? — the fixed Ukrainian question for the time.
❌ Скі́льки люде́й бу́ли?
With скі́льки the verb is neuter singular — Скі́льки люде́й було́, not the plural бу́ли.
✅ Скі́льки люде́й було́ на зу́стрічі?
How many people were at the meeting? — neuter singular було́ with скі́льки + genitive.
Key Takeaways
- хто "who" and що "what" decline for case (кого́, кому́, ким; чого́, чому́, чим) but have no gender — pick the case from the role in the answer (з ким, чого́ бої́шся).
- хто is grammatically masculine singular (Хто прийшо́в?) and що is neuter singular (Що ста́лося?) — agreement does not track the real-world answer.
- який "what kind," чий "whose," and котрий "which one" are agreeing adjectives — they change with their noun's gender, number, and case (Яки́м авто́бусом?, Чия́ су́мка?).
- Ask the time with the fixed Котра́ годи́на?
- скільки "how many" takes the genitive and a neuter-singular verb (Скі́льки люде́й було́?).
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