Genitive relative clauses (которого, которой)

Learn how to use the relative pronoun который (who/which/that) in the Genitive case to discuss genealogy and family history.

Genitive Forms of "который"

As always, который gets its gender and number from the noun it modifies in the main sentence, but its case is determined strictly by its role inside its own clause.

Expressing "Whose" (Possession)

To say "whose" in a Russian relative clause, you literally say "of whom" or "of which" using the Genitive forms of который.

Unlike English, which places "whose" before the noun (e.g., "whose name"), Russian reverses this order. You state the possessed noun first, followed by которого, которой, or которых.

For a masculine noun like предок (ancestor), use которого:

For a feminine noun like линия (line), use которой:

For plural nouns like люди (people), use которых:

Prepositions That Take the Genitive

Use the Genitive forms of который when the relative clause requires a Genitive preposition, like из (from), без (without), or для (for).

The preposition goes right in front of the relative pronoun:

If the preposition modifies the possessed noun (e.g., "after the wedding of whom"), the preposition and possessed noun stay together at the front of the clause: