dare dort shtate, ist main fah-ter) – The man who is standing there is my father.
(The noun being described is «der Mann», so we use «der» as the relative pronoun in nominative case because the man is the subject within the relative clause.)
Die Frau, die singt, ist meine Schwester. (dee frau, dee zingt, ist mai-ne shves-ter) – The woman who is singing is my sister.
(The noun being described is «die Frau», so we use «die» as the relative pronoun in nominative case because the woman is the subject within the relative clause.)
Accusative Relative Pronoun (Direct Object in Relative Clause):
Das Buch, das ich lese, ist sehr interessant. (das booh, das ihh lay-ze, ist zair in-te-res-sant) – The book that I am reading is very interesting.
(The noun being described is «das Buch», so we use «das» as the relative pronoun in accusative case because the book is the direct object within the relative clause that «ich» am acting upon.)
Der Mann, den ich gesehen habe, ist mein Nachbar. (dare man, den ihh ge-zay-en hah-be, ist main nahh-bar) – The man whom I saw is my neighbor.
(The noun being described is «der Mann», so we would use «der» but the man is the direct object of my seeing, so we change it to the accusative den.)
Dative Relative Pronoun (Indirect Object in Relative Clause):
Der Mann, dem ich helfe, ist krank. (dare mahn, dame ihh hel-fe, ist krank) – The man whom I am helping is sick.
(Helping is always in the dative case. Here, the man is the receiver of my help, thus he is in dative case and so the pronoun becomes dem.)
Die Frau, der ich das Buch gegeben habe, ist meine Lehrerin. (dee frau, dare ihh das buuh ge-gay-ben hah-be, ist mai-ne lay-re-rin) – The woman, to whom I gave the book, is my teacher.
(The noun being described is «die Frau». Giving is always in the dative, thus the pronoun becomes «der». )
Genitive Relative Pronoun (Possession in Relative Clause):
Der Mann, dessen Auto hier steht, ist mein Chef. (dare mahn, de-sen au-to heer shtate, ist main shef) – The man, whose car is standing here, is my boss.
(dessen is used to show that the car belongs to the man)
Die Frau, deren Kind krank ist, ist sehr besorgt. (dee frau, day-ren kint krank ist, ist zair be-zorgt) – The woman, whose child is sick, is very worried.
(deren is used to show that the child belongs to the woman)
Using «welcher, welche, welches» as Relative Pronouns
«welcher,» «welche,» and «welches» are alternative relative pronouns that are often used, especially in more formal writing. They function similarly to «der,» «die,» and «das,» but they are often considered more elegant. They are declined similarly to «der, die, das» in the accusative, dative, and genitive cases.
Der Mann, welcher dort steht, ist mein Vater.
Das Buch, welches ich lese, ist sehr interessant.
Die Frau, welcher ich helfe, ist meine Nachbarin.
Relative Adverbs
Relative adverbs introduce relative clauses that provide information about time, place, or reason.
wo (where): Indicates location.
Das Haus, wo ich wohne, ist sehr alt. (das haus, vo ihh vo-ne, ist zair ahlt) – The house where I live is very old.
wann (when): Indicates time.
Der Tag, wann ich Geburtstag habe, ist im Juni. (dare tahk, van ihh ge-boots-tahk hah-be, ist im yoo-nee) – The day when I have my birthday is in June.
warum (why): Indicates reason. (Often avoided. Use «weshalb» or rephrase the sentence)
Using Prepositions in Relative Clauses
When a relative clause requires a preposition, the preposition comes before the relative pronoun. The case of the relative pronoun is determined by the preposition.
Der Tisch, auf dem das Buch liegt, ist alt. (dare tish, auf dame das booh leekt, ist ahlt) – The table, on which the book is lying, is old.
(auf + dem = auf dem)
Die Person, mit der ich spreche, ist meine Lehrerin. (dee per-zoon, mit dare ihh shpreh-he, ist mai-ne lay-re-rin) – The person, with whom I am speaking, is my teacher.
(mit + der = mit der)
Contractions with «wo»
In spoken and informal written German, «wo» often contracts with prepositions:
wo + in = worin (in which)
wo + an = woran (on which)
wo + auf = worauf (on which)
wo + mit = womit (with which)
wo + von = wovon (of which/about which)
Examples with Contractions
Das ist das Buch, worin ich gelesen habe. – That’s the book in which I was reading.
Ich weiß nicht, wovon du sprichst. – I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Punctuation
Relative clauses are always separated from the main clause by commas.
Word Bank
Relativsatz (re-la-teef-zats) – Relative Clause
Relativpronomen (re-la-teef-pro-no-men) – Relative Pronoun
der, die, das – who, which, that
wo – where
wann – when
Exercises
Combine the following pairs of sentences into one sentence using a relative clause:
Der Mann ist mein Vater. Er steht dort.
Das Buch ist sehr interessant. Ich lese es.
Die Frau ist meine Lehrerin. Ich helfe ihr.
Fill in the blanks with the correct relative pronoun (der, die, das, den, dem, dessen, deren):
Der Film, ______ ich gestern gesehen habe, war toll.
Die Frau, ______ Mann Arzt ist, arbeitet hier.
Das Haus, ______ im Garten steht, ist sehr alt.
Die Kinder, ______ spielen, sind meine Nachbarn.
Translate the following sentences into German, using relative clauses:
The man who is standing there is my father.
The book that I am reading is very interesting.
The woman to whom I gave the book is my teacher.
The house where I live is very old.
I don’t know what you are talking about.
Rewrite 3 sentences using «welcher, welche, welches» instead of «der, die, das»
This concludes Chapter 14! You now have a good understanding of how to form and use relative clauses in German. They add detail and complexity to your writing and speech.
Chapter 15: The Subjunctive Mood (Konjunktiv)
The subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv) is used to express hypothetical situations, indirect speech, wishes, and polite requests. It’s an essential aspect of German grammar for conveying nuance and formality. There are two main forms of the subjunctive: Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. In this chapter, we will focus on Konjunktiv II, as it is the more commonly used of the two.
What is the Subjunctive Mood?
The subjunctive mood allows you to express things that are not factual or certain. It can convey:
Hypothetical situations: «If I were rich…»
Indirect