A relative pronoun glues a subordinate clause onto a noun: "the book that I'm reading," "the man who came," "the girl I spoke with." English uses that, which, who, whom, whose — and frequently drops the pronoun entirely ("the book I'm reading"). Ukrainian's main tool is який, and it behaves in a way that has no English parallel: it agrees with the noun it refers back to in gender and number, but it takes its case from the job it does inside its own clause. So a single word — яку́, яко́го, яко́ю — simultaneously points backward (agreement) and works locally (case). This page shows you how to read and build those clauses, plus the simpler relativizers що and хто.
який — the main relativizer, and its split personality
який / яка́ / яке́ / які́ is the everyday "which / who / that." It declines like a hard-stem adjective (the same paradigm as the interrogative який). The mechanism is the heart of the page:
- Gender and number come from the antecedent — the noun it refers back to. If the antecedent is feminine singular, який is feminine singular; if plural, plural.
- Case comes from the relative clause — from the role який plays inside its own clause (subject, object, after a preposition, and so on).
Look at кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю "the book that I'm reading." The antecedent is кни́га (feminine singular), so який is feminine singular. But inside the clause "I'm reading _," it is the object of чита́ю, so it takes the accusative: feminine singular accusative = яку́. Two signals, one word.
Кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю, — про війну́.
The book (that) I'm reading is about the war. — яку́: feminine (matches кни́га) + accusative (object of чита́ю).
Чолові́к, яки́й прийшо́в, — мій сусі́д.
The man who came is my neighbour. — яки́й: masculine (matches чолові́к) + nominative (subject of прийшо́в).
Це той фільм, яко́го я ще не ба́чив.
That's the film I haven't seen yet. — яко́го: masculine + genitive-accusative after the negated не ба́чив.
To see the two signals move independently, hold the antecedent fixed and change the clause role:
| Antecedent | Clause role | Form of який | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| кни́га (fem. sg.) | subject | яка́ (nom.) | кни́га, яка́ лежи́ть... |
| кни́га (fem. sg.) | direct object | яку́ (acc.) | кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю |
| кни́га (fem. sg.) | after про | яку́ (acc.) | кни́га, про яку́ всі гово́рять |
| кни́га (fem. sg.) | after з | яко́ю (instr.) | кни́га, з яко́ю я не розлуча́юся |
Prepositions go in front of який — no stranding
English happily strands the preposition at the end: "the girl I spoke with," "the house I live in." Ukrainian does not strand. The preposition stands directly in front of який, and який takes the case that preposition governs. This produces the very common combinations з яки́м / з яко́ю "with which," в яко́му / у які́й "in which," до яко́го "to which," про яки́й "about which."
Дівчина, з яко́ю я говори́в, — журналі́стка.
The girl I spoke with is a journalist. — preposition з in front of яко́ю; no stranding.
Буди́нок, у яко́му ми живе́мо, ду́же стари́й.
The house we live in is very old. — у яко́му, 'in which,' locative after у.
Це пробле́ма, про яку́ ніхто́ не хо́че говори́ти.
This is a problem nobody wants to talk about. — про яку́, 'about which,' the preposition leading.
що — the invariant, colloquial relativizer
Alongside який there is що "that / which," which here is invariable — it does not decline or agree at all. It is lighter and more colloquial, and it works best when the relative pronoun is the subject or direct object of its clause. Кни́га, що лежи́ть на столі́ "the book that's lying on the table" is perfectly natural with що.
Кни́га, що лежи́ть на столі́, — твоя́?
Is the book lying on the table yours? — invariant що as the subject of лежи́ть.
Це той хло́пець, що його́ всі лю́блять.
That's the boy everyone loves. — що with a resumptive його́ filling the object slot.
When the relative role needs an oblique case (after a preposition, in the genitive, etc.), invariant що cannot inflect, so speakers either switch to який or add a resumptive pronoun — a little його́, з ним, etc. — to carry the case, as in the second example above. For clean writing, який is the safer choice in oblique roles; що shines in subject/object roles and in conversation.
Лю́ди, що живу́ть по́руч, ду́же приві́тні.
The people who live next door are very friendly. — що as subject; fully natural.
хто and той, хто — headless and indefinite relatives
When there is no noun antecedent — when you mean "the one who," "whoever," "those who" — Ukrainian uses хто "who," usually paired with a demonstrative той / та / ті in the main clause: той, хто "the one who," ті, хто "those who." Likewise те, що "that which / what" for things.
Той, хто не працю́є, неха́й не їсть.
Let the one who doesn't work not eat. — той, хто, a headless relative referring to a person.
Ті, хто запізни́вся, ста́ли в кінці́ че́рги.
Those who were late stood at the back of the queue. — ті, хто, 'those who.'
Я не зрозумі́в того́, що ти сказа́в.
I didn't understand what you said. — того́, що, 'that which / what,' for a thing.
котрий — the formal variant
котрий / котра́ / котре́ / котрі́ can stand in for який as a relativizer, but it sounds more formal / bookish and is far less frequent in speech. Use який by default; recognise котрий in older or elevated prose.
Зако́н, котри́й ухвали́ли торі́к, набу́в чи́нності.
The law (that was) passed last year came into force. — котри́й, a formal alternative to який.
The comma is obligatory
A relative clause in Ukrainian is always set off by a comma — there is no "that-dropping" and no comma-dropping. Кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю must have the comma before яку́; Чолові́к, який прийшо́в must have it before який. English lets you write "the book I'm reading" with nothing at all; Ukrainian never omits both the pronoun and the comma.
Маши́на, яку́ ми купи́ли, вже злама́лася.
The car we bought has already broken down. — note the commas around the relative clause, both obligatory.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, three resets. (1) який agrees AND inflects at once — gender/number from the antecedent, case from its own clause (дівчина, з яко́ю я говори́в). English "who/which" carries neither. (2) No preposition stranding — Ukrainian says буди́нок, у яко́му ми живе́мо, never the English "the house we live in" pattern with the preposition at the end. (3) No dropping — English freely deletes "that" ("the book I read"), but Ukrainian keeps both the relativizer and its comma.
For a Russian speaker, the main relativizer is який (not the Russian который), and the light invariant option is що (not что). The headless relative is той, хто / те, що. The forms (яку́, яко́го, з яко́ю) are Ukrainian; do not reach for the Russian paradigm.
Common Mistakes
❌ Кни́га, яки́й я чита́ю, ціка́ва.
Agreement error — the antecedent кни́га is feminine, so the relativizer must be feminine: яку́ (also accusative, as the object).
✅ Кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю, ціка́ва.
The book I'm reading is interesting — яку́: feminine (matches кни́га) + accusative (object).
❌ Дівчина, яку́ я говори́в, — журналі́стка.
Case error — говори́ти 'with' takes з + instrumental, so the relative form must be з яко́ю, not the accusative яку́.
✅ Дівчина, з яко́ю я говори́в, — журналі́стка.
The girl I spoke with is a journalist — з яко́ю, preposition leading, instrumental case.
❌ Буди́нок, який ми живе́мо в ньо́му, стари́й.
Don't strand the preposition — Ukrainian fronts it: в яко́му ми живе́мо, with no extra ньо́му at the end.
✅ Буди́нок, у яко́му ми живе́мо, стари́й.
The house we live in is old — у яко́му, the preposition in front of який.
❌ Кни́га яку́ я чита́ю ціка́ва.
Missing commas — a relative clause must be set off by commas: Кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю, ціка́ва.
✅ Кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю, ціка́ва.
The book I'm reading is interesting — commas around the relative clause are obligatory.
❌ Хто не працю́є, неха́й не їсть.
A headless relative about a person normally takes the demonstrative anchor: Той, хто не працю́є...
✅ Той, хто не працю́є, неха́й не їсть.
The one who doesn't work shall not eat — той, хто, with the demonstrative anchor.
Key Takeaways
- який is the main relativizer: it agrees with the antecedent in gender and number but takes its case from its own clause (кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю — feminine + accusative).
- Prepositions front який — з яко́ю, в яко́му, до яко́го — never stranded the English way.
- що is an invariant, colloquial "that," best as the subject or object of its clause; switch to який (or add a resumptive pronoun) for oblique roles.
- той, хто / те, що build headless relatives ("the one who," "what").
- котрий is a formal variant of який; the comma before a relative clause is always required.
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- Interrogative Pronouns (Хто, Що, Який, Чий, Котрий)A1 — Ukrainian asks 'who/what/which/whose' with pronouns that DECLINE: хто 'who' (кого́, кому́, ким), що 'what' (чого́, чому́, чим), and the agreeing який 'what kind', чий 'whose', котрий 'which one' that change ending with their noun and case. Two traps for English speakers: який/чий/котрий are full agreeing adjectives (Яки́м авто́бусом? 'by which bus?'), and хто always takes masculine-singular agreement even about a woman (Хто прийшо́в?, never *прийшла́).
- Relative Clauses (Який, Що, Хто)B1 — How Ukrainian builds 'the house we saw,' 'the woman I spoke with,' 'the city I was born in.' The relativizer який agrees with its antecedent in gender and number but takes its CASE from its role inside the relative clause, so one word points two ways at once; the comma before it is obligatory; prepositions front (з якою, в якому) and are never stranded; the invariant що is the colloquial subject/object option; and той, хто / те, що build headless relatives.
- Declension of Хто and Що and Their CompoundsB1 — Хто 'who' and що 'what' fully decline — хто/кого́/кому́/кого́(acc=gen)/ким/(на) ко́му and що/чого́/чому́/що/чим/(на) чо́му — and ALL their derivatives inherit these endings: indefinite хтось → кого́сь, де́хто → де́кого, абихто́ → абикого́; negative ніхто́ → ніко́го, ніщо́ → нічо́го. The crucial twist: negatives ніхто́/ніщо́ SPLIT around a preposition, which lands inside the word — ні в ко́го 'to no one', ні з ким 'with no one', ні до чо́го 'to nothing', ні про що 'about nothing'.
- Hard-Stem Adjective DeclensionA2 — The full declension of hard-stem adjectives (the нови́й 'new' type) across all seven cases, three singular genders, and the plural. The endings — -ого, -ому, -им, -ою, -их, -ими — are the same set you meet on demonstratives and most pronouns, so learning нови́й unlocks the agreement endings for той, котри́й, and the bulk of the adjective system at once. Includes the velar-stem spelling (вели́кий → вели́кого but вели́кі) and the animacy split in the masculine and plural accusative.
- The Seven Cases: OverviewA1 — Ukrainian has SEVEN cases — nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and a living vocative — each marked by an ending on the noun rather than by word order, so the same job English does with prepositions and position, Ukrainian does with the word's tail.
- Types of Subordinate Clause: An OverviewB2 — A map of the Ukrainian subordinate-clause system — complement (що 'that', чи 'whether'), relative (який, що, котрий), and adverbial clauses of time, cause, purpose, condition and concession — showing that every subordinate clause is overtly introduced by a conjunction AND set off by a comma, and that the clause type dictates the verb form (future after коли, past + би after якби, past after щоб with a different subject).