Declension of Interrogative Pronouns
Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
In Croatian, the words for 'who' and 'what' change their endings based on their role in the sentence.
- Use 'Tko' for people (Who). Example: Tko je to? (Who is that?)
- Use 'Što' for things (What). Example: Što radiš? (What are you doing?)
- Change the ending of 'Tko' and 'Što' when they are not the subject. Example: Koga vidiš? (Whom do you see?)
Declension of Tko and Što
| Case | Who (Tko) | What (Što) |
|---|---|---|
|
Nominative
|
Tko
|
Što
|
|
Genitive
|
Koga
|
Čega
|
|
Dative
|
Kome
|
Čemu
|
|
Accusative
|
Koga
|
Što
|
|
Locative
|
Kome
|
Čemu
|
|
Instrumental
|
Kim
|
Čime
|
Meanings
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about people and things. They must be declined according to the case required by the verb or preposition.
Nominative (Subject)
Used when the pronoun is the doer of the action.
“Tko dolazi?”
“Što je na stolu?”
Accusative (Direct Object)
Used when the pronoun is the receiver of the action.
“Koga vidiš?”
“Što kupuješ?”
Genitive (Possession/Prepositions)
Used after certain prepositions or to show possession.
“Koga nema?”
“Od koga je poklon?”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Nominative
|
Subject
|
Tko dolazi?
|
|
Accusative
|
Direct Object
|
Koga vidiš?
|
|
Genitive
|
Preposition
|
Od koga?
|
|
Dative
|
Indirect Object
|
Kome daješ?
|
|
Instrumental
|
With/By
|
S kim ideš?
|
|
Locative
|
About/In
|
O kome pričaš?
|
औपचारिकता का स्तर
Koga očekujete? (Meeting someone)
Koga čekaš? (Meeting someone)
Koga čekaš? (Meeting someone)
Koga vrebaš? (Meeting someone)
Interrogative Pronoun Map
People
- Tko Who
Things
- Što What
स्तर के अनुसार उदाहरण
Tko je to?
Who is that?
Što je ovo?
What is this?
Tko radi?
Who is working?
Što želiš?
What do you want?
Koga vidiš?
Whom do you see?
Što kupuješ?
What are you buying?
Koga čekaš?
Whom are you waiting for?
Što čitaš?
What are you reading?
Od koga je pismo?
From whom is the letter?
Čega se bojiš?
What are you afraid of?
S kim ideš?
With whom are you going?
O kome pričaš?
About whom are you talking?
Kome si to dao?
To whom did you give that?
Čiji je ovo auto?
Whose car is this?
Što se dogodilo?
What happened?
Koga si sreo?
Whom did you meet?
Ne znam koga bih pitao.
I don't know whom I should ask.
Što god kažeš, bit će u redu.
Whatever you say, it will be fine.
Kome god se obratiš, pomoći će ti.
Whoever you turn to, they will help you.
Čega god se dotakne, pretvori u zlato.
Whatever he touches, he turns into gold.
Tko bi rekao da će tako završiti?
Who would have said it would end like that?
Što se mora, nije teško.
What must be done is not hard.
Koga briga za to?
Who cares about that?
Što je tu je.
It is what it is.
आसानी से भ्रमित होने वाले
Learners mix 'who' and 'whose'.
Learners use 'što' after prepositions.
Learners mix direct and indirect objects.
सामान्य गलतियाँ
Tko vidiš?
Koga vidiš?
Šta je to?
Što je to?
Koga je to?
Čije je to?
Tko voliš?
Koga voliš?
S tko ideš?
S kim ideš?
O tko pričaš?
O kome pričaš?
Čemu radiš?
Što radiš?
Od što je to?
Od čega je to?
Kome si vidio?
Koga si vidio?
S čime ideš?
S kim ideš?
Koga god da vidim, pozdravim.
Koga god vidim, pozdravim.
Što god da se desi.
Što god se desi.
वाक्य संरचनाएँ
___ je to?
___ vidiš?
S ___ ideš?
O ___ pričaš?
Real World Usage
Što radiš?
Koga tražite?
S kim putuješ?
Što želiš naručiti?
Tko je ovo?
Što znači ova riječ?
Focus on the Verb
Don't Guess
Practice with Prepositions
Dialect Awareness
Smart Tips
Ask yourself: 'Is this the subject or the object?'
Always memorize the case a preposition requires.
Remember it's stable in Nominative and Accusative.
Use 'Čiji' instead of 'Tko'.
उच्चारण
Tko
Pronounced as a cluster: T-K-O.
Što
The 'Š' is like 'sh' in 'ship'.
Question Intonation
Tko je to? ↗
Rising pitch at the end of the sentence.
याद करें
स्मृति सहायक
Tko is for people, Što is for things. If it's not the subject, add an ending to the ring!
दृश्य संबंध
Imagine a person ('Tko') wearing a crown (Nominative). When they become an object, they drop the crown and put on a cape ('Koga').
Rhyme
Tko for a person, Što for a thing, change the ending to make the sentence sing.
Story
Tko the person walked into a room. He saw Što the object on the table. He asked, 'Koga (whom) do I see?' and 'Čega (what) is this?'
Word Web
चैलेंज
Write 5 questions using 'Tko' and 'Što' in different cases in 5 minutes.
सांस्कृतिक नोट्स
In coastal regions, 'šta' is used much more frequently than 'što' in standard speech.
Standard 'što' is preferred in formal settings, but 'kaj' is the local dialect word for 'what'.
Standard usage is common, but intonation is often more melodic.
These pronouns originate from Proto-Slavic.
बातचीत की शुरुआत
Tko je tvoj najbolji prijatelj?
Što voliš raditi vikendom?
Koga si zadnjeg nazvao?
Čega se najviše sjećaš iz djetinjstva?
डायरी विषय
सामान्य गलतियाँ
Test Yourself
___ vidiš?
S ___ ideš?
Find and fix the mistake:
Od tko je ovo?
Arrange the words in the correct order:
All words placed
Click words above to build the sentence
What are you doing?
Answer starts with: Što...
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Dative of Tko?
A: ___ čekaš? B: Čekam Marka.
Score: /8
अभ्यास प्रश्न
8 exercises___ vidiš?
S ___ ideš?
Find and fix the mistake:
Od tko je ovo?
vidiš / koga / ti
What are you doing?
Genitive
Dative of Tko?
A: ___ čekaš? B: Čekam Marka.
Score: /8
अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले सवाल (8)
It changes because it is in the Accusative case, which marks the direct object.
It is not 'wrong' in dialects, but 'Što' is the standard form for formal writing.
Look at the verb or preposition. They dictate the case.
No, you must use 'Koga' for objects.
'Čiji' is for possession, not for asking 'who'.
Yes, like 'kakav' (what kind) and 'koliko' (how much).
It changes in other cases, but stays 'Što' in Nominative and Accusative.
It takes practice, but it follows the same rules as nouns.
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
wer/wen/wem
German has four cases, Croatian has seven.
qui/que
French doesn't decline pronouns.
quién/qué
Spanish relies on syntax, not morphology.
dare/nani
Japanese particles are separate words.
man/mā
Arabic pronouns are mostly fixed.
shéi/shénme
Chinese has no declension.
