Complete Guide to German Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns (Relativpronomen) introduce subordinate clauses that provide additional information about a noun mentioned earlier in the sentence.
Examples:
- • Das Buch, das ich lese, ist interessant. (The book that I read is interesting.)
- • Die Frau, die hier arbeitet, ist sehr nett. (The woman who works here is very nice.)
- • Die Kinder, die draußen spielen, sind laut. (The children who are playing outside are loud.)
Structure and Formation of Relative Clauses
Here is the basic structure of a sentence using a relative clause in German.
| Main Clause | Relative Clause | Rest of Main Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Der Mann, | der in Berlin wohnt, | ist mein Freund. |
| The man | who lives in Berlin | is my friend. |
Step-by-Step Formation (Nominative)
- 1. Start with two sentences with the same subject:
• Der Mann ist mein Freund.(The man is my friend)
• Der Mann wohnt in Berlin.(The man lives in Berlin)
- 2. Insert relative clause with appropriate pronoun (der):
• Der Mann, der in Berlin wohnt, ist mein Freund.(The man who lives in Berlin is my friend)
Basic Relative Pronouns: der/die/das
The most common relative pronouns in German are based on the definite articles der, die, and das. Their form changes depending on the gender, number and case of the noun they refer to ("Der Mann" in our examples).
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | denen |
| Genitive | dessen | deren | dessen | deren |
Nominative Examples
When the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause:
| Masculine | Der Mann, der in Berlin wohnt, ist mein Freund. (The man who lives in Berlin is my friend.) |
| Feminine | Die Frau, die in Berlin wohnt, ist meine Freundin. (The woman who lives in Berlin is my friend.) |
| Neuter | Das Kind, das in Berlin wohnt, ist mein Freund. (The child that lives in Berlin is my friend.) |
| Plural | Die Menschen, die in Berlin wohnen, sind meine Freunde. (The people who live in Berlin are my friends.) |
Accusative Examples
When the relative pronoun is the direct object of the relative clause.
For accusative, the article of the object in the second sentence is the same as the relative pronoun.
| Masculine | Der Computer, den ich kaufe, ist teuer. (The computer that I am buying is expensive.) |
| Feminine | Die Schüssel, die ich kaufe, ist teuer. (The bowl that I am buying is expensive.) |
| Neuter | Das Buch, das ich kaufe, ist teuer. (The book that I am buying is expensive.) |
| Plural | Die Blumen, die ich kaufe, sind teuer. (The flowers that I am buying are expensive.) |
Dative Examples
When the relative pronoun is the indirect object or follows a dative verb.
For dative, the article of the object in the second sentence is the same as the relative pronoun, except for plural, where den becomes denen.
| Masculine | Der Student, dem ich helfe, ist dankbar. (The student whom I am helping is grateful.) |
| Feminine | Die Lehrerin, der ich helfe, ist dankbar. (The teacher whom I am helping is grateful.) |
| Neuter | Das Kind, dem ich helfe, ist dankbar. (The child whom I am helping is grateful.) |
| Plural | Die Freunde, denen ich helfe, sind dankbar. (The friends whom I am helping are grateful.) |
Genitive Examples
When expressing possession or close association:
| Masculine | Der Mann, dessen Auto orange ist, ist traurig. (The man whose car is orange is sad.) |
| Feminine | Die Frau, deren Auto orange ist, ist traurig. (The woman whose car is orange is sad.) |
| Neuter | Das Kind, dessen Auto orange ist, ist traurig. (The child whose car is orange is sad.) |
| Plural | Die Leute, deren Auto orange ist, sind traurig. (The people whose car is orange are sad.) |
Alternative Relative Pronouns: welcher/welche/welches
You can also use welcher, welche, welches as relative pronouns. They are less common than der/die/das but function identically, except they have no genitive forms.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | welcher | welche | welches | welche |
| Accusative | welchen | welche | welches | welche |
| Dative | welchem | welcher | welchem | welchen |
| Genitive | not used | not used | not used | not used |
Relative Pronouns with Prepositions
When a preposition is required in the relative clause, it must come before the relative pronoun.
| Masculine | Der Bus, auf den wir warten, kommt endlich. (The bus on which we are waiting is finally coming.) |
| Feminine | Die Schule, in die ich gehe, ist renoviert. (The school in which I used to go is renovated.) |
| Masculine (Person) | Der Freund, mit dem ich telefoniert habe, kommt morgen. (The friend with whom I have spoken on the phone is coming tomorrow.) |
| Neuter | Das Haus, vor dem wir stehen, ist sehr alt. (The house in front of which we are standing is very old.) |
Positioning in Different Tenses
The position of elements in relative clauses changes depending on the tense and verb structure. Here are the most important patterns to remember:
Past with Participle (Perfect Tense)
In perfect tense, the auxiliary verb (haben/sein) goes at the end, and the past participle comes before it.
- Der Mann ist mein Lehrer+Der Mann hat das Buch gelesen → Der Mann, der das Buch gelesen hat, ist mein Lehrer.(The man is my teacher) + (The man has read the book) → (The man who has read the book is my teacher)
Future Tense
In future tense, werden goes at the end, and the infinitive comes before it.
- Das Projekt ist sehr wichtig+Wir werden das Projekt morgen beginnen → Das Projekt, das wir morgen beginnen werden, ist sehr wichtig.(The project is very important) + (We will begin the project tomorrow) → (The project that we will begin tomorrow is very important)
Modal Verbs
With modal verbs, the modal verb goes at the end, and the main verb (infinitive) comes before it.
- Das Kind ist müde+Das Kind kann nicht schlafen → Das Kind, das nicht schlafen kann, ist müde.(The child is tired) + (The child can not sleep) → (The child that can not sleep is tired)
Separable Verbs
With separable verbs, the prefix attaches back to the verb at the end of the relative clause.
- Der Zug ist verspätet+Der Zug kommt um 8 Uhr an → Der Zug, der um 8 Uhr ankommt, ist verspätet.(The train is delayed) + (The train arrives at 8 o'clock) → (The train that arrives at 8 o'clock is delayed)
Special Rule for Location and Direction
Some prepositions + relative pronounse can be replaced with certain adverbs. For example:
- Das ist die Stadt, in der ich lebe. → Das ist die Stadt, wo ich lebe.(That's the city in which I live) → (That's the city where I live)
Static Location
When the location is static and there is no movement (in, an, auf, unter, etc.), use "wo" as in the example above. These cases are always dative.
- Das ist die Stadt, in der ich lebe. → Das ist die Stadt, wo ich lebe.(That's the city in which I live) → (That's the city where I live)
When the preposition is directional away from somewhere, use "woher".
Directional - Away
When the preposition is directional away from somewhere (von, aus, etc.), use "woher". These cases are also always dative.
- Das Land, von dem sie kommt, ist weit entfernt. → Das Land, woher sie kommt, ist weit entfernt.(The country from which she comes is far away) → (The country where she comes from is far away)
Directional - Towards
When the preposition is directional towards somewhere (in, an, auf, etc.), use "woher". These cases use the same prepositions as the static location case. The difference is that these cases are always accusative.
- Der Ort, in den wir fahren, ist schön. → Der Ort, wohin wir fahren, ist schön.(The place to which we're going is beautiful) → (The place where we're going is beautiful)