Relative Pronouns
In English, the same word "who" is used in those 2 sentences:
Who lives here?
The man who lives here is very old.
However, in the 1st sentence, "who" is an interrogative pronoun, used to ask a question, and in the 2nd sentence, it is a relative pronoun, referring to the man.
In Bulgarian, those are translated by 2 different words:
"Кой живее тук?" - Who lives here?
"Мъжът, който живее тук, е много стар" - The man who lives here is very old
As you can see, the relative pronoun is formed by adding -то to the interrogative pronoun. And like interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns have to agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to:
| Sing. Masc. | Sing. Fem. | Sing. Neu. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| who/which | който | която | което | които |
| whom | когото | която | което | които |
| whose | чийто | чиято | чието | чиито |
| as/like | какъвто | каквато | каквото | каквито |
Examples
"Човекът, чието куче ти видя" - The person whose dog you saw
"Градът, какъвто аз го знаех" - The city as I knew it
Note that the accusative of "who" ("whom") changes for the masculine gender only:
"Той е мъжът, когото обичам" - He is the man (whom) I love
"Тя е жената, която обичам" - She is the woman (whom) I love
Adverbs
Although this is a lesson about the relative pronouns, we will also include a few adverbs that are similarly formed from interrogative adverbs:
"Къде живееш?" - Where do you live?
"Това е където живея" - This is where I live
| къде (where?) | където (where) |
| кога (when?) | когато (when) |
| защо (why?) | защото (because) |
| как (how?) | както (how/as) |
| откъде (where from?) | откъдето (from where) |
| накъде (where to?) | накъдето (to where) |
| колко (how much/many?) | колкото (as much/many as) |
Examples
"Ще ти кажа, когато те видя" - I will tell you when I see you
"Както виждаш, тук съм!" - As you see, I'm here!
"В градината съм, откъдето мога да видя къщата" - I'm in the garden, from where I can see the house
"Ще отида накъдето ми кажеш" - I'll go where you tell me