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Relativpronomen


learning target


Aim of this section is to learn the relative pronous and their use in the four cases.

German

English

Das ist die Frau, die ich gestern getroffen habe.
Er ist der Mann, den wir suchen.
Die Arbeit, welche ich jetzt mache, ist schön.

That's the woman who I met yesterday.
He is the man who we are looking for.
The job, which I'm doing now, is nice.



rules


What is a relative pronoun?


A relative pronoun is word which introduces a relative clause.
The relative pronoun refers back to a noun (subject or object) in the main clause.
I want us to call this noun in the main clause: Bezugswort (=antecedent).


examples:

Die Frau hat ein großes Auto, das aus Europa kommt. (The woman has a big car which comes from Europe.)


Die Frau, die in New York wohnt, hat ein großes Auto. (The woman, who lives in New York, has a big car.)



Which relative pronouns do exist in German?


The relative pronouns in German are:

  • der: refers back to male nouns
  • die: refers back to female nouns
  • das: refers back to neuter nouns
  • welcher: refers back to male, female or neuter nouns

You can use either der/die/das or welcher.
Both ways are possible although welcher is mostly used in written German.


examples:


If I say der/die/das and welcher are the relative pronouns than it's just half of the truth.
Like many other words you have to modify the pronouns depending on numerus, gender and case (see tables at the end)
and now it becomes a bit complicate.

  • The gender and numerus of the relative pronoun is the same as the gender and numerus of the "Bezugswort".
  • The case of the relative pronoun, however, is determined by the "function" of the pronoun in the relative clause -
    not by the "function" of the "Bezugswort"!


examples:

Ich kenne den Mann, der in Cagayan wohnt. (I know the man who lives in Cagayan.)


Ich kenne den Mann, den die Leute hassen. (I know the man who the people hate.)


Ich kenne den Mann, dem die Leute ein Buch schenkten. (I know the man to whom the people gave a book.)


Ich kenne den Mann, dessen Hund Angie heißt. (I know the man whose dog is called Angie.)


I think the understanding of the cases in relatives clauses is quite tricky and needs praticse.
Don't worry we will practise this step by step in the exercises.


Last remarks

In German we don't distinguish between relative pronouns
which refer back to alive or dead things like in English.

  • who: refers back to alive things
  • which / that: refers back to dead things

In this point German is easier than English.


examples:


In German it's not possible to leave out the relative pronoun like in English.


examples:

In English both sentences are possible. The second one without the relative pronoun sounds even better.
In German, however, only the first one is correct. The second sentence without "den" is wrong and not understandable.


In German the relative clause is always separated by a comma from the main clause.
I think that's an advantange compared to English because it makes it easier to understand the two sentences.


example:


If there is a preposition which belongs to a verb
then the preposition goes at the beginning of the relative clause.


examples:

In the first sentence the verb is: warten auf (wait for).
In the second sentence the verb is: träumen von (dream of).



tables


 

"declension" of the relative pronouns: der/die/das

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

der

die

das

die

genitive

dessen

deren

dessen

deren

dative

dem

der

dem

denen

accusative

den

die

das

die

 

"declension" of the relative pronoun: welcher

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

welcher

welche

welches

welche

genitive

welches

welcher

welches

welcher

dative

welchem

welcher

welchem

welchen

accusative

welchen

welche

welches

welche


The declination scheme of the der/die/das - relative pronouns is almost the same as the as the declination of the definite article.
I underlined the five pronouns which differ.



 

exercises


Relativpronomen 1

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 

Relativpronomen 2

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 

Relativpronomen 3

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 


summary - documents for your folder


Relativpronomen (theory, 4 pages)