The relative pronouns joka and mikä connect two sentences to one another. This is a fairly advanced topic, which is usually taught in intermediate courses. Usually, the main focus is on the relative pronoun joka, so that’s what you can find more information about on my website already. You can read more about it in these articles:

In addition to JOKA, we also have MIKÄ, which serves a similar function. Below, you can find the existing rules on when to use joka and mikä.

1. The main rule on when to use JOKA and MIKÄ

The main rule is fairly clear. You will usually use joka when the subordinate clause refers back to the word right before it. You will normally use mikä when the subordinate clause refers back to the whole sentence in front of it.

2. What are relative pronouns?

I have explained what a relative pronoun is at length in the article that’s all about the joka-pronoun here.

In short, relative pronouns are words that connect two sentences to one another. The clause that starts with the relative pronoun gives more information about the clause in front of it. The words JOKA and MIKÄ have no fixed meaning in these sentences; the meaning of relative pronouns exists in relation to the sentence they refer to.

The most commonly used relative pronouns in English are which, that, who, and whom. There is no direct correlation between English and Finnish: you can’t automatically translate “whom” as jonka for example. You need to take the whole context into consideration.

Some terms, which I promise to use only sparingly in this article in order to avoid confusion with grammar terms:

3. General remarks

3.1. You will need to inflect the relative pronoun

The relative pronouns joka and mikä do need to be inflected in the cases for these sentences to work. Please read this article for more information about when to use these cases. For joka, there are both singular and plural forms. For mikä, the plural forms look exactly like the singular forms, with the exception of the T-plural (plural nominative) form mitkä.

3.2. The rule is not completely intuitive for Finns either

So when do you use joka, and when mikä? Perhaps you will feel comforted by the fact that Finns need to specifically study these rules in order to use them correctly. The rules regarding this subject are taught to Finns in secondary school.

In everyday life, some Finns do confuse the two, so you may hear or read joka/mikä in the”wrong” context. There is a common misconception that claims joka will always refer to people and mikä to things and animals. The official rules don’t support this completely, though there is indeed a tendency for joka to usually refer to people. That’s why the rules tend to contain the words “usually” and “almost always”.

3.3. You can’t rely on the English translation

Don’t try to translate these sentences using the English relative pronouns! In English, who, whom and whose are generally used where referring back to a person, while which/that are used to refer back to things or complete sentences. There is a partial overlap with Finnish, but you shouldn’t depend on it too much.

In addition, English also allows you to form sentences without joka or mikä. Consider the sentences in the table below, and you will notice that the word between [brackets] can be left out in the English sentence quite easily. In Finnish, you always have to add joka (and its inflected forms).

3.4. Mikä as an interrogative and as a relative pronoun

The pronoun mikä has two functions: it can be used as a relative pronoun and as an interrogative pronoun. An interrogative pronoun creates a question (e.g. “Mikä sinun nimesi on?” (What‘s your name?) and “Mistä sinä olet kotoisin?” (Where are you from?). On this page, we’re dealing with mikä as a relative pronoun. That means it’s placed at the beginning of a relative subordinate clause (which is the topic of this particular article).

I feel that, as a second language learner, it matters very little what grammar term you use. For example, in the sentence “Hän tekee mitä tahtoo” (He does what he wants), mitä is considered to be a relative pronoun. In contrast, in the sentence “Minä tiedän mitä haluan” (I know what I want), mitä could be construed as either a relative pronoun or an interrogative pronoun. What’s important for the scope of this article is just that you use mikä rather than joka! Read more about this issue in Finnish here.

3.5. Relative pronouns, proadverbs and proadjectives

Sources like VISK don’t limit themselves to just the relative pronouns joka and mikä. They also mention the relative proadverbs jonne, minne, jolloin and milloin, as well as the proadjectives jollainen and millainen. I will perhaps write a separate article about those at some point. For this article, I’m limiting the scope to just joka and mikä.

4. When to use JOKA rather than MIKÄ

4.1. Joka is usually used when referring back to the word right in front of the pronoun

The pronoun joka is common when it refers back to a concrete, specified and well-defined antecedent. This usually means that the antecedent is a single word. It can refer to a person (#1), animal (#2) or thing (#3). I have marked the antecedent in the examples below in my favorite color green.

5. When to use MIKÄ rather than JOKA

First off, let me repeat what I mentioned in section 3.4: mikä is used in sentences both as an interrogative pronoun (a question word) and a relative pronoun. This page deals with relative pronouns. The relative pronoun mikä is commonly used when it refers to an abstract thing, idea or concept. Let’s have a closer look below!

5.1. Mikä is often used when referring to the idea or concept of a complete sentence

When the relative pronoun refers back to the complete main clause, the pronoun mikä is usually used.

5.2. Mikä is usually used when referring to the combination of a pronoun and an adjective

When the antecedent is an adjective with a pronoun in front of it, you will use mikä. This rules seems to be limited to the pronouns jotain (in an affirmative sentence) and mitään (in a negative sentence) combined with an adjective in the partitive case.

5.3. Mikä is usually used when the antecedent is not visible

If the antecedent has been (ie. left out) from the sentence, the pronoun mikä is used.

5.4. Mikä is usually used when referring back to a superlative

The pronoun mikä is used when it’s referring back to an adjective in its superlative form. This seems to be limited to superlatives which are inflected in the partitive case (ie. viisainta rather than just viisain).

6. Both JOKA and MIKÄ possible in the same context

6.1. Mikä/Joka when referring back to a noun with a superlative adjective attached to it

As explained in section 4.1, joka is common when it refers back to a concrete, specified and well-defined antecedent, such as a person or animal. However, if the antecedent is a thing and is used in combination with a superlative adjective, both joka and mikä are accepted (#1). If the antecedent is a person, you will generally only see joka (#2).

6.2. Mikä/Joka when the relative pronoun is part of a postposition phrase

Postpositions create another situation where both joka and mikä are considered acceptable in the same sentence. Usually, when referring back to a whole sentence rather than one word, we will use mikä. However, if the relative pronoun is part of a phrase which contains a postposition, we can have both joka and mikä.

The pronoun joka is especially common in the phrases [jonka jälkeen], [jonka seurauksena], [jonka vuoksi] and [jonka tuloksena]. While these phrases refer back to the entire statement of the main sentence, they will still commonly have jonka rather than minkä.

Note that this rule with postpositions is only relevant for clauses where the relative sentence refers back to the whole sentence. If [jonka/minkä vuoksi] would refer back to one word only, you will always use jonka.

7. Either JOKA or MIKÄ depending on the context

The following rules are a little more complicated than the ones above. They’re the type where you can’t just rely on the base rules. Rather, you must consider the situation as a whole.

7.1. When the relative pronoun refers back to a demonstrative pronoun

If the antecedent is a demonstrative pronoun, we have to think a little bit more closely about what demonstrative pronoun is referring to. Demonstrative pronouns are, for example, jokin (something), se (it) or kaikki (everything/everyone). We’ll have to consider if the antecedent is a person, animal or concrete thing vs. something abstract.

7.1.1. When the demonstrative pronoun refers to an abstract thing

If the antecedent refers to an abstract thing, it is most often referred to with the pronoun mikä. In English these sentences are often shortened, leaving out the relative pronoun. You do need it in Finnish!

7.1.2. When the demonstrative pronoun refers back to a person, animal or concrete thing

The examples below will hopefully help you understand how the demonstrative pronoun’s meaning can influence which relative pronoun is used. The examples marked with #1 have an antecedent that is a person, animal, object or concrete thing. In the examples marked with #2, the relative pronoun refers to an abstract thing.

7.2. When the relative pronoun refers back to a location case

Location cases are tricky antecedents to refer back to. In some cases, only joka works. In other cases, both joka and mikä work, but there may be a tendency to use one more than the other. I’ve done my best to give the general rule and some more specifics, but I find this one of the more confusing rules.

7.2.1. Main rule for location cases

Often, both mikä and joka can be used when referring to a location case when the relative pronoun answers the questions missä, mistä or mihin. In other words:

• IF the antecedent is inflected in a location case (e.g. museossa, puuhun, torilla, Tampereelta),
• AND the relative pronoun is answers the question missä, mistä or mihin,
  (meaning it’s one of the following: jossa/missä, josta/mistä, johon/mihin, jonne/minne, jolla/millä, jolta/miltä and jolle/mille),
• THEN we can use both joka and mikä (#1).

If the relative pronoun doesn’t answer the question missä, mistä or mihin, then you will mainly use joka (#2).

7.2.2. General preference tendency towards joka/mikä with location cases

The rule above which states that both joka and mikä can be used in certain location case situations is a good rule of thumb. However, the type of location you’re referring to can make either joka or mikä more common.

The relative pronoun joka, in a location case form (e.g. jossa, johon, josta), will more often be used when the location is more clearly defined and precise (#1). On the other hand, the relative pronoun mikä, in a location case form (e.g. missä, mille, miltä), is generally more common when the location is less well defined (#2).

However, as some sources state, the difference can be unclear. Different people can perceive a place or city differently: is a city a well-defined area or not? Also of interest is that, depending on the context, we may be referring to just the railway station of a city rather than the whole city. This can make people learn toward joka rather than mikä.

8. Exceptions to the general joka rule

The general rule for joka is that the antecedent will be right in front of joka. There are two exceptions to this rule.

8.1. There can be a postposition between the antecedent and the relative pronoun

A postposition (e.g. jälkeen, kanssa, takana) can be placed between the antecedent and joka. These are situations where the relative pronoun tells us something more about the noun that’s combined with the postposition.

8.2. There can be words in between if the antecedent is accompanied by a pronoun

There can be words in between the antecedent and the relative pronoun, if the antecedent is accompanied by a word such as se, sellainen or ainoa. These words help stress what the antecedent of the sentence is.

If there isn’t a pronoun, the recommendation is usually to rephrase the sentence so that the antecedent is right in front of the relative pronoun. Sometimes a word order change is all that’s needed. It can be difficult, however, as a non-native speaker to know when word order can be changed easily and when it will end up sounding weird.

Read more elsewhere in Finnish

Related posts:

The Relative Pronoun Joka – Joka-pronomini Joku Jokin – Jotakuta Jollakin – Finnish Pronouns Joka-pronomini – Jonka Jota Joista Joiden Finnish Question Words – Interrogative Pronouns