The relative pronoun čiji
In short
čiji = whose — agrees with the OWNED noun after it, never with the owner.
| m | f | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nom | čiji | čija | čije |
| acc | čiji / čijeg (anim.) | čiju | čije |
| gen | čijeg | čije | čijeg |
| dat/loc | čijem | čijoj | čijem |
| ins | čijim | čijom | čijim |
| nom pl | čiji | čije | čija |
Case = the owned noun's role: komšija čiju smo kuću videli, zgrada na čijem krovu.
B1 · Lesson 37 · Odnosna zamenica čiji
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
In English, whose lets you pick someone out by what belongs to them: the man whose house we saw, the building whose roof leaks. Serbian does the same job with čiji. You already know it as a question word — Čija je ovo kuća? (Whose house is this?) — and the relative whose is the very same word.
čiji looks forward, not back
In the last lesson koji looked BACK: it took its gender and number from the noun it refers to (komšija koji, komšinica koja). čiji does the opposite. It behaves like the possessives moj or njegov: it agrees with the thing that is owned, the noun that comes right after it. The owner — the noun before it — plays no part in its ending.
| Serbian | Owner (before) | Owned thing (after) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| komšija čija je kuća | komšija — masculine | kuća — feminine | the neighbour whose house |
| žena čiji je stan | žena — feminine | stan — masculine | the woman whose flat |
| naselje čije su ulice | naselje — neuter | ulice — feminine plural | the neighbourhood whose streets |
| ljudi čija je garaža | ljudi — plural | garaža — feminine | the people whose garage |
Ask yourself 'whose WHAT?' and look at that noun. A man can own a house (čija kuća), a woman can own a flat (čiji stan). If you catch yourself matching čiji to the owner, you are doing koji's job.
The forms
čiji declines exactly like moj and tvoj — the same endings you already use for possessives.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | čiji | čija | čije |
| accusative | čiji (thing) / čijeg (person, animal) | čiju | čije |
| genitive | čijeg | čije | čijeg |
| dative / locative | čijem | čijoj | čijem |
| instrumental | čijim | čijom | čijim |
| nominative plural | čiji | čije | čija |
| genitive plural | čijih | čijih | čijih |
Which case? The owned noun's job decides
The case comes from what the owned noun does inside the whose clause, and čiji simply takes the same case as that noun. If the house is what we saw, kuća is the object, so it is čiju kuću. If the flat is the subject, it is čiji stan. After a preposition, both words follow the preposition: na čijem krovu (on whose roof), iz čijih prozora (from whose windows), s čijom ćerkom (with whose daughter).
- Ovo je komšija čiju smo kuću videli juče. — kuća is the object: accusative.
- Upoznala sam ženu čiji je stan iznad našeg. — stan is the subject: nominative.
- To je zgrada na čijem krovu imamo baštu. — after na, locative.
The clitics je, su, smo can come right after čiji (čiju smo kuću videli) or after the whole pair (čiju kuću smo videli). Both are correct; the first is what you will hear most. Either way, čiji and its noun open the clause.
koji or čiji?
- Komšija koji živi pored nas ima velikog psa. — the neighbour WHO lives next to us: koji, agreeing with komšija.
- Komšija čiji pas laje celu noć živi pored nas. — the neighbour WHOSE dog barks all night: čiji, agreeing with pas.
What people often say instead
In everyday speech you will often hear koji plus a dative instead of čiji: To je komšinica kojoj je pas pobegao — literally 'the neighbour to whom the dog ran away', meaning 'whose dog ran away'. It is perfectly normal, but in this lesson you practise čiji, which is always correct and is what you write.
Check what you read
6 of the 15 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Ovo je komšija ___ smo kuću videli.
Komšija ___ pas laje celu noć živi pored nas.
Stan(čiji) smo vrata ofarbali je na trećem spratu.
Komšija s(čiji) sinom igram tenis živi preko puta.
Znam ženu(čiji) je bašta najlepša u ulici.
Kupili smo kuću ___ je krov star.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
To je zgrada na čijem krovu imamo baštu.
That is the building on whose roof we have a garden.
Upoznala sam ženu čiji je stan iznad našeg.
I met the woman whose flat is above ours. (woman speaking)
Ovo je komšija čiju smo kuću videli juče.
This is the neighbour whose house we saw yesterday.
Studenti čiji su prozori uvek otvoreni slušaju glasnu muziku.
The students whose windows are always open listen to loud music.
To je naselje čije su ulice uske i mirne.
That is the neighbourhood whose streets are narrow and quiet.
Znaš li one ljude čija je garaža uvek otvorena?
Do you know those people whose garage is always open?
Komšija čiji pas laje celu noć živi pored nas.
The neighbour whose dog barks all night lives next to us.
Kako se zove onaj stanar čija su vrata zelena?
What is the name of that tenant whose door is green?
Gazdarica čiji smo dvosobni stan iznajmili traži veliku kauciju.
The landlady whose two-room flat we rented is asking for a big deposit.
Živimo u selu u čijem centru raste stara lipa.
We live in a village in whose centre an old linden tree grows.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 22
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
That is the building on whose roof we have a garden.