Ki and kateri: 'the one who' inside the noun phrase
Until now you described things with adjectives: zahteven izpit, novi naslov. But 'the teacher who taught us history' is not one word — the description unfolds into a whole clause, and ki introduces it. For example: “To je sošolec, ki mi je posodil zvezek” — This is the classmate who lent me a notebook. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Until now you described things with adjectives: zahteven izpit, novi naslov. But 'the teacher who taught us history' is not one word — the description unfolds into a whole clause, and ki introduces it.
Ki never declines. That is its main virtue and its main trap: the case that English hides in word order ('the classmate I know' = I know him) Slovenian pulls out into a small clitic right after ki. In the nominative there is none: učitelj, ki je učil zgodovino — the teacher who taught history. In every other case it is obligatory: sošolec, ki ga poznam — the classmate I know; sošolec, ki mu verjamem — the one I believe; stanovanje, ki v njem živim — the apartment I live in. Forgetting that clitic is the most common slip in relative clauses.
The second word is kateri. It declines like an adjective and carries the case itself: sošolec, katerega poznam. The meaning is the same, the register is different: kateri is the language of contracts, textbooks and official letters. You will almost never hear it in speech, except to remove an ambiguity: hčerka sodelavca, katera dela v banki makes clear that it is the daughter who works in the bank, not the colleague.
The comma before ki is always there, no exceptions: Slovenian punctuation is stricter than English in subordinate clauses. And one more detail that gives a foreigner away: nothing is inserted between the noun and ki — the clause hugs it, pogodba, ki sem jo podpisal, not 'pogodba včeraj, ki…'.
Table
| the case of 'which' | spoken with ki | bookish with kateri |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ki je prišel | kateri je prišel |
| genitive | ki ga ni | katerega ni |
| dative | ki mu pišem | kateremu pišem |
| accusative | ki ga poznam | katerega poznam |
| locative | ki v njem živim | v katerem živim |
| instrumental | ki z njim delam | s katerim delam |
| feminine | ki jo poznam | katero poznam |
| dual | ki ju poznam | katera poznam |
By example
- To je sošolec, ki mi je posodil zvezekThis is the classmate who lent me a notebook
- Stanovanje, ki sva si ga ogledala, je predragoThe apartment the two of us viewed is too expensive
- Podpišite pogodbo, v kateri so navedene vse zadolžitveSign the contract in which all obligations are listed
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Ki vs kateri in Slovenian?
Until now you described things with adjectives: zahteven izpit, novi naslov. But 'the teacher who taught us history' is not one word — the description unfolds into a whole clause, and ki introduces it.
How to say which in Slovenian?
Ki never declines. That is its main virtue and its main trap: the case that English hides in word order ('the classmate I know' = I know him) Slovenian pulls out into a small clitic right after ki. In the nominative there is none: učitelj, ki je učil zgodovino — the teacher who taught history. In…
Why ga, mu and jo follow ki?
The second word is kateri. It declines like an adjective and carries the case itself: sošolec, katerega poznam. The meaning is the same, the register is different: kateri is the language of contracts, textbooks and official letters. You will almost never hear it in speech, except to remove an…
Is a comma needed before ki in Slovenian?
The comma before ki is always there, no exceptions: Slovenian punctuation is stricter than English in subordinate clauses. And one more detail that gives a foreigner away: nothing is inserted between the noun and ki — the clause hugs it, pogodba, ki sem jo podpisal, not 'pogodba včeraj, ki…'.
How to say the flat I live in in Slovenian?
The comma before ki is always there, no exceptions: Slovenian punctuation is stricter than English in subordinate clauses. And one more detail that gives a foreigner away: nothing is inserted between the noun and ki — the clause hugs it, pogodba, ki sem jo podpisal, not 'pogodba včeraj, ki…'.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“To je sošolec, ki mi je posodil zvezek” — This is the classmate who lent me a notebook. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.