The Interrogative Pronoun Čiji
To ask who something belongs to, Croatian uses the pronoun čiji (whose).
| whose | čiji |
Because it is a possessive word, čiji acts like an adjective. It changes its ending to agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun it possesses (the thing being owned, not the owner).
When the possessed noun is masculine, use the base form čiji.
| Whose handwriting is this? | Čiji je ovo rukopis? |
This exact same form is used for indirect questions embedded in the middle of a sentence:
| I do not know whose diary I found. | Ne znam čiji sam dnevnik pronašao. |
When the possessed noun is feminine, the pronoun becomes čija.
| Do you know whose merit that is? | Znaš li čija je to zasluga? |
When the possessed noun is neuter, the pronoun becomes čije.
| We do not know whose plot of land we inherited. | Ne znamo čije smo zemljište naslijedili. |
If the objects being possessed are plural, the pronoun changes to match the plural gender. For instance, with masculine plural nouns (like otisci), the form is also čiji.
| Whose prints are in our yard? | Čiji su otisci u našem dvorištu? |
Connecting Clauses: Whose vs. Which
In addition to asking questions, čiji serves as a relative pronoun to connect two clauses, describing a noun by its owner. It still agrees with the object being owned.
| We are looking for the man whose tent is in the dark forest. | Tražimo čovjeka čiji je šator u mračnoj šumi. |
Do not confuse čiji (whose) with koji (which/who). Use koji—or its feminine form koja and neuter form koje—when you are directly modifying the noun itself, rather than establishing ownership.
| The woman who works with me inherited great wealth. | Žena koja radi sa mnom naslijedila je veliko bogatstvo. |
| I read the diary which was hidden in the drawer. | Pročitao sam dnevnik koji je bio skriven u ladici. |