B1 · Subordinate clauses
Relative clauses
der, die, das as "who" and "which"
The relative pronoun looks like the article, takes its gender from one clause and its case from the other, and can never be left out.
German relative pronouns are the definite article, with three small changes in the genitive and the dative plural. Der Mann, der dort steht, die Frau, die angerufen hat, das Kind, das draußen spielt.
The pronoun takes its gender and number from the noun it refers back to, and its case from its job inside the relative clause. Those are two different questions and they have to be asked separately: der Mann, den ich gesehen habe is masculine because of Mann and accusative because he is the one being seen.
Two things English allows and German does not. The pronoun can never be omitted — there is no German equivalent of "the man I saw". And a preposition can never be stranded at the end: it goes in front of the pronoun, as in die Frau, mit der ich gesprochen habe.
Die Form
| nominative — m, f, n, plural | der / die / das / die |
| accusative | den / die / das — die |
| dative | dem / der / dem — denen |
| genitive | dessen / deren / dessen — deren |
| with a preposition | mit dem, für den, über die |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
Gender and number come from the noun referred to; the case comes from the job inside the relative clause.
Der Film, den wir gestern gesehen haben, war gut.The film we saw yesterday was good.
The verb goes to the end, as in any subordinate clause.
Das ist der Kollege, der mir geholfen hat.That is the colleague who helped me.
The relative pronoun cannot be left out.
Das Buch, das ich lese, ist spannend.The book I am reading is exciting.
A preposition stands in front of the pronoun, never at the end.
Die Frau, mit der ich gesprochen habe, war sehr freundlich.The woman I spoke to was very friendly.
Genauer hingesehen
Why the pronoun cannot be dropped
English can omit a relative pronoun when it is the object — "the book I read" — because word order makes the structure unambiguous anyway. German cannot, and the reason is the same one that explains most of this grammar: German word order is free enough that the clause boundary would be lost.
Without the pronoun, das Buch ich lese gives a reader no way to tell where one clause ends and the next begins — and since German main clauses can begin with an object, that is a real ambiguity rather than a theoretical one. The pronoun and the comma between them do the work English does with position.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the antecedent is alles, etwas, nichts, das or a whole clause
the relative pronoun is was, not das.
Das ist alles, was ich weiß.That is everything I know.
These refer to a thing without naming it, and was is the pronoun for an unnamed thing.
-
the clause refers to a place
wo often replaces a preposition plus pronoun.
Das ist die Stadt, wo ich geboren bin.That is the town where I was born.
It is shorter and avoids choosing a case, which is why it is preferred in speech.
Woran man es erkennt
- der
- die
- das
- den
- dem
- denen
- dessen
- deren
- was
Beispielsätze
Der Zug, der um acht fährt, ist immer voll.The train that leaves at eight is always full.
Die Wohnung, die wir gesehen haben, war zu teuer.The flat we saw was too expensive.
Das ist der Mann, dem ich das Auto verkauft habe.That is the man I sold the car to.
Die Kollegen, mit denen ich arbeite, sind sehr nett.The colleagues I work with are very nice.
Der Autor, dessen Buch wir lesen, kommt aus Wien.The author whose book we are reading is from Vienna.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Der Brief, den du geschrieben hast, ist angekommen.The letter you wrote has arrived.
Die Leute, die hier wohnen, kenne ich nicht.I do not know the people who live here.
Das Haus, in dem sie aufgewachsen ist, steht noch.The house she grew up in is still standing.
Der Freund, dessen Auto wir geliehen haben, ist verreist.The friend whose car we borrowed is away.
Die Firma, für die er arbeitet, ist aus München.The company he works for is from Munich.
Alles, was er gesagt hat, war richtig.Everything he said was right.
Das Restaurant, das du empfohlen hast, war ausgebucht.The restaurant you recommended was fully booked.
Die Kinder, denen wir geholfen haben, waren dankbar.The children we helped were grateful.
Besonderheiten (2)
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Only four forms differ from the article
The relative pronoun is the definite article except in four cells: the genitives <z>dessen</z> and <z>deren</z>, and the dative plural <z>denen</z>. Everything else — <z>der, die, das, den, dem</z> — is already known from the article table, which makes this one of the cheapest B1 topics there is.
die Kollegen, denen ich vertrauethe colleagues I trust
-
The clause can be interrupted by the main sentence
A relative clause sits directly after its noun, even when that noun is in the middle of the main sentence — so the main sentence is cut in half and resumed after a second comma: <z>Der Film, den wir gesehen haben, war gut</z>. English does the same but punctuates it optionally; German requires both commas, and they are what makes a long German sentence readable at all.
Der Kollege, der neu angefangen hat, kommt aus Bremen.The colleague who has just started is from Bremen.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English strands prepositions at the end of a clause freely — "the woman I spoke to" — and German cannot do it at all. The preposition goes in front of the relative pronoun, and it also decides the pronoun's case: mit takes the dative, so it is mit der and not mit die. Two decisions in one small phrase, which is why it is worth building the clause from the preposition outwards.
Gender from outside, case from inside. Preposition in front.
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