Abstract.In this paper I examine the rules for placement of clitics in a selected number of Slavic languages. I propose that the placement of argument clitics is dictated by a functional category, Finiteness, whereas for extended clitic chsters it is dictated by clause‐initial structure, analysed in terms of a construct preliminarily called FRONT. I argue that it is the language particular requirements on FRONT that determine the distribution of extended clitic cluster