Relative clauses with які, reported speech with што, and the fact that Belarusian keeps the original tense where English shifts it back.
I can build relative clauses with які and report what someone said or asked.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Кніга, якую я чытаю, вельмі цікавая.
The book I am reading is very interesting.
Горад, у якім я жыву, зусім невялікі.
The town I live in is quite small.
Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе а сёмай.
He said he would come at seven.
Я не ведаю, ці яна прыйдзе.
I do not know whether she will come.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Які means which or who, and it behaves as an adjective: it takes its gender and number from the noun it refers back to, but its case from its own clause. That split is the whole difficulty.
Што introduces a reported statement, ці a reported yes/no question:
English moves a reported verb one step back: he said he was coming. Belarusian keeps whatever the speaker actually said:
Shifting the tense back, as English does, produces a sentence that means something else.
дзе where, калі when, чаму why, як how, колькі how much - all keep the direct-question word order. There is no inversion to undo.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: taking the case of які from the main clause instead of its own; and shifting the tense back in reported speech, which changes the meaning.
Taking the case of які from the main clause
Gender and number come from the noun; the case comes from its own clause.
Using который instead of які
The Belarusian relative is які, якая, якое, якія.
Shifting the tense back in reported speech
Belarusian keeps what was said: Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе.
Using ли after the word instead of ці before the clause
Я не ведаю, ці ён прыйдзе.
Кніга, якую я чытаю, вельмі цікавая.
The book I am reading is very interesting.
<em>Якую</em> is feminine from <em>кніга</em> and accusative from <em>чытаю</em>.
Горад, у якім я жыву, зусім невялікі.
The town I live in is quite small.
Locative after <em>у</em>, masculine from <em>горад</em>.
Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе а сёмай.
He said he would come at seven.
The tense stays as the speaker said it - <em>прыйдзе</em>, a future, even after a past-tense verb of speaking.
Я не ведаю, ці яна прыйдзе.
I do not know whether she will come.
A reported yes/no question takes <em>ці</em>, and it comes first in its clause.
Сябры, з якімі мы ездзілі на Браславы, жывуць у Полацку.
The friends we went to Braslau with live in Polatsk.
Plural from <em>сябры</em>, instrumental after <em>з</em>.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
The syntax volume of the current academic reference grammar, cited as the standard reference for Belarusian sentence structure rather than for one quoted passage. It is what the description on this page is measured against; it is not a source for any single claim here.