# o němž



## Tagarela

Ahoj,

In the Bible, John 1.15, we read_ "Jan o něm vydával svědectví volal: Toto je ten, *o němž* jsem řekl." (version of Bible21)

_Instead of *o němž* could it be o kom? Is *o němž*  a literally form or does its meaning have a slightly difference ?

Děkuji


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## jazyk

You could say _o kterém_, but o kom isn't possible, as far as I know. Take a look here as well.

Jenž is a more formal version than který, often found in written Czech. Spoken Czech not so much, maybe even very rarely.


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## werrr

Tagarela said:


> In the Bible, John 1.15, we read_ "Jan o něm vydával svědectví volal: Toto je ten, *o němž* jsem řekl:…"_ (version of Bible21)


Please, be more careful when quoting. The example makes no sense with the full stop.



> Instead of *o němž* could it be o kom?


Yes, in this particular case, but not in general.

“Kdo”, while gramatically masculine, refers to person(s) of indefinite gender:

  ten, kdo (o kom)  (notice it could refer even to a female)
  ti, kdo (o kom)  (notice it could refer even to a group with some female)
  ta, kdo  (grammatically inconsistent in gender)
  to, kdo  (grammatically inconsistent in gender)
  ten muž, kdo  (semmantically inconsistent in definiteness of gender)

When specific in gender, you have to use “který” or “jenž”.



> Is *o němž* a literary form…


It’s more formal variant of “který”. Even the native speakers have problems with the right form (esp. gender) of “jenž”.



> …or does its meaning have a slightly difference?


In modern Czech, “jenž” is interchangeable with “který”, but only as relative pronoun.

Historically, “jenž” was a definite pronoun, hence it was used only in the definite sense:

  muž, jenž = the man who

The differentiation is obsolete in modern Czech, so you can use it now even for “a man who”.


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## adno

Werrr has put it quite clearly. However, I think that "jenž" still sounds weird in indefinite sense, and should be used at all at least in some of them:

"Student, jenž ztratil šálu, nechť se přihlásí..." (Something, that no one would say with "jenž", but generally correct and makes sense. Definite sense.)

"Student, (jenž) který se nepřihlásí k žádnému z řádných termínů, bude posuzován..." (A general rule, indefinite sense. "Jenž" would make it sound as if we were referring to one particular student.)

So, the differentiation is obsolete only in the sense that "který" can be used correctly in both definite and indefinite sense, and "jenž" is seldom used regardless of context.

As for the cited sentence, i think that this is an example of putting "jenž" to good use, it certainly sounds literary, but not archaic.


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## Tagarela

Děkuji vám moc za odpovědi!

Werrře, omlouvám se za tu chybu na cítát.


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## adno

Chválím ten krásný český pátý pád "Werrře"! (Ale vyslovit to by byl možná oříšek i pro ostřílené rodilé mluvčí.)


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