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B1GrammarКото́рый

The word кото́рый

One word for “who”, “which” and “that” — with two rules that decide its ending.

Quick answer

Кото́рый takes its gender and number from the noun it refers back to, and its case from its own clause. A comma always comes before it.

Two rules, two sources

Э́то челове́к, кото́рый живёт здесь.That’s the man who lives here. — masculine, nominative
Э́то кни́га, кото́рую я чита́ю.That’s the book (which) I am reading. — feminine, accusative
Э́то друг, кото́рому я звони́л.That’s the friend I called. — masculine, dative

Gender from the noun before the comma; case from the job it does after it. Once you separate those two questions, the form is easy.

The comma is obligatory

English can drop “that”; Russian can never drop кото́рый or its comma. Кни́га, кото́рую я чита́ю — never “книга я читаю”.

The one to learn first

The nominative forms cover most of what you will say early on: кото́рый, кото́рая, кото́рое, кото́рые. Add the accusative кото́рую and you can describe almost anything.

Typical mistakes

Кни́га кото́рую я чита́ю

Кни́га, кото́рую я чита́ю

The comma is compulsory.

Э́то кни́га, кото́рый я чита́ю.

кото́рую

Feminine noun, accusative role.

Check yourself

Э́то кни́га, ___ я чита́ю.

Feminine from кни́га, accusative because it is the object: кото́рую.

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