{"id":527,"date":"2017-10-27T00:24:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T00:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/?p=527"},"modified":"2017-10-30T08:07:25","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T08:07:25","slug":"polish-relative-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/polish-relative-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish Relative Pronouns \u201ckt\u00f3ry\u201c and \u201cjaki\u201d Made (Relatively) Easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kt\u00f3ry <\/i><\/b>and <\/b>jaki <\/i><\/b>as interrogative pronouns<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Polish pronouns <\/span>kt\u00f3ry <\/i><\/b>and <\/span>jaki\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u2013\u00a0mostly translated as which<\/strong><\/em> or what<\/strong><\/em> \u2013\u00a0<\/i><\/b>have several uses. P<\/span>robably the most straightforward one is asking questions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Below are two example sentences with <\/span>kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> as <\/span>interrogative pronouns<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0samoch\u00f3d\u00a0podoba ci si\u0119 bardziej, m\u00f3j czy Toma?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong>\u00a0car do you like more, mine or Tom’s?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> jest tw\u00f3j ulubiony deser? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is your favorite dessert?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Though their English translations are usually the same, the two pronouns can rarely be used interchangeably. <\/span>Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> is used when talking about entities that are being singled out from a <\/span>specific number of options. <\/b>On the other hand,\u00a0<\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> is used to refer to entities from a more <\/span>indefinite set of options<\/b>. It might seem a bit confusing when put this way, so let\u2019s take a close look at some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/strong> kraj Unii Europejskiej jest najbiedniejszy?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is the poorest country in the European Union?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

The sentence refers to an entity belonging to a very specific group: the 28 member states of the European Union. Because of this, <\/span>kt\u00f3ry <\/i><\/b>is the preferred option. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0z nich\u00a0jest sprawc\u0105?\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> one<\/strong> of them is the perpetrator?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, the set of referents is a limited group of suspects \u2013 you can picture them standing in a police lineup. Once again, <\/span>kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> is the way to go. The pronoun can be used for both human and non-human entities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> kolor ma jej sukienka? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> color is her dress?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

In this case, no specific set of colors to choose from comes to mind, and we cannot really rule out any answer \u2013 this is why <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> is the correct pronoun here. If the question included a specific set of colors to choose from, as in \u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> color did you get \u2013 black or red?\u201d, <\/span>kt\u00f3ry <\/i><\/b>would be the more appropriate option.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> jest cel pa\u0144skiej wizyty? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is the purpose of your visit?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, there isn\u2019t a definite number of purposes to choose from. This makes <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> the preferred choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> is also often used to ask about sequence, or anything else involving ordinal numbers:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/strong> by\u0142 we wczorajszym wy\u015bcigu?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> place<\/span> did he finish yesterday\u2019s race in?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/b> can appear in questions asking about the class to which the given entity belongs, so it is sometimes translated as <\/span>what kind of<\/i><\/b>,<\/span> what sort of <\/i><\/b>or simply <\/span>what<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> ser lubisz najbardziej?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>What kind of<\/strong> cheese do you like the most?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> is also used to ask about a person\u2019s (or a thing\u2019s) characteristics, which means it can be translated as <\/span>what is \u2026 like<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> jest jej m\u0105\u017c?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is her husband <\/span>like<\/span>?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b> sometimes appears in exclamations that emphasize some specific adjective:<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> pi\u0119kny widok! <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> a beautiful view!\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Number and gender of kt\u00f3ry<\/em> and jaki<\/em><\/b><\/h2>\n

Both <\/span>kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>jaki <\/b><\/em>inflect just like <\/span>adjectives<\/span><\/a> do \u2013 they assume various endings depending on the number, gender, and case of the noun (or pronoun) they refer to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singular masculine forms: kt\u00f3ry<\/em>,\u00a0jaki<\/em><\/h3>\n

Thus, the forms <\/span>kt\u00f3ry <\/i><\/b>and <\/span>jaki <\/i><\/b>from the previous section are only used for <\/span>singular masculine<\/b> referents. Of course, these do not necessarily have to be actual males \u2013 we\u2019re talking about grammatical gender, which all Polish nouns have.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/strong> rower podoba ci si\u0119 bardziej?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> bicycle do you like more?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaki<\/i><\/strong> masz problem?<\/span><\/i> (\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is your problem?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Singular feminine forms: kt\u00f3ra<\/em>,\u00a0jaka<\/em><\/h3>\n

When asking about <\/span>singular feminine<\/b> entities, the default forms are <\/span>kt\u00f3ra<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>jaka<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3ra<\/i><\/strong> jest c\u00f3rk\u0105 Toma? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Which one<\/strong> is Tom’s daughter?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaka<\/i><\/strong> jest dzi\u015b pogoda? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is the weather <\/span>like<\/strong> today?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Singular neuter forms:\u00a0kt\u00f3re<\/em>,\u00a0jakie<\/em><\/h3>\n

Singular neuter<\/b> nouns require the forms <\/span>kt\u00f3re <\/i><\/b>and <\/span>jakie<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3re<\/i><\/strong> mi\u0119so smakuje najlepiej? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> meat tastes the best?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jakie<\/i><\/strong> jest twoje ulubione krajowe piwo? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> is your favorite domestic beer?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Plural masculine personal forms: kt\u00f3rzy<\/em>, jacy<\/em><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0plural masculine personal <\/b>forms are kt\u00f3rzy<\/strong><\/em> and\u00a0jacy<\/em><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3rzy<\/i><\/strong> pi\u0142karze grali dzi\u015b najlepiej? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> soccer players played the best today?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacy<\/i><\/strong> s\u0105 jego rodzice? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> are his parents <\/span>like<\/span>?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, <\/span>plural non-masculine<\/b> nouns are accompanied by the forms <\/span>kt\u00f3re <\/i><\/b>and <\/span>jakie<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Kt\u00f3re<\/i><\/strong> buty s\u0105 twoje? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Which<\/strong> shoes are yours?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jakie<\/i><\/strong> ksi\u0105\u017cki czyta tw\u00f3j tata? <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>What<\/strong> books does your dad read?\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Polish<\/p>\n

Grammatical case of kt\u00f3ry<\/em> and\u00a0jaki<\/em><\/b><\/h2>\n

Another grammatical feature that is reflected in the forms assumed by <\/span>kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>kt\u00f3re <\/i><\/b>is their\u00a0<\/span>grammatical case<\/b>. A pronoun\u2019s grammatical case is always the same as the case of its referent<\/strong>. This, in turn, depends on the referent\u2019s function in the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grammatical case exists in parallel to number and gender. This means that each of the five number\/gender combinations described in the previous section has six independent forms, one for each of the cases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, many of the forms are shared between cases and number\/gender combinations, which brings their total number down to 11 for both <\/span>kt\u00f3ry<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>jaki<\/i><\/b>. The overlap is clearly visible in this color-coded table:<\/span>\f<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Polish<\/p>\n

To help you digest all this information, let\u2019s look at some examples and discuss the cases one-by-one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nominative<\/h3>\n

The <\/span>nominative<\/b> forms are used to ask about the subject of the sentence. In other words, you mostly use them to ask:<\/span><\/p>\n