Interrogative Pronouns (Tázací zájmena)
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. Unlike English, Czech interrogatives decline through all 7 cases!
Visual Overview
Kdo (Who) & Co (What)
The most fundamental question words. Note that the case depends on the grammatical function in the sentence.
| Case | Kdo (animate) | Co (inanimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Nom | kdo | co |
| Gen | koho | čeho |
| Dat | komu | čemu |
| Acc | koho | co |
| Loc | (o) kom | (o) čem |
| Instr | kým | čím |
Examples
- Kdo to je? (Who is that?) - Nominative
- Koho vidíš? (Who do you see?) - Accusative
- Komu to dáš? (To whom will you give it?) - Dative
- S kým mluvíš? (With whom are you speaking?) - Instrumental
Jaký, Který, Čí
These decline like adjectives and agree with the noun they modify.
- Jaký (what kind of): Jaké je počasí? (What's the weather like?)
- Který (which): Který autobus jede do centra? (Which bus goes downtown?)
- Čí (whose): Čí je to kniha? (Whose book is that?)
Interrogative Adverbs
These do NOT decline:
| Adverb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| kde | where (static) |
| kam | where to (direction) |
| odkud | where from |
| kdy | when |
| jak | how |
| proč | why |
| kolik | how much/many |