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

What is a relative pronoun?

examples:

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

• Auto is the object of the main sentence
• das is the relative pronoun of the relative clause
• das refers back to the car (car is the "Bezugswort")

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

• Frau is the subject of the main sentence
• die is the relative pronoun of the relative clause
• die refers back to the woman (woman is the "Bezugswort")

Which relative pronouns do exist in German?

examples:

• Ich kenne den Mann, der gestern hier (I know the man who was here yesterday.)
• Ich kenne den Mann, welcher gestern hier (I know the man who was here yesterday.)

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.

examples:

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

• Mann is the "Bezugswort". It's singular and male àthe relative pronoun must be singular and male, too
• He (->der) playes the roll of the subject in the relative He does something (he lives) à

nominative

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

• Mann is the "Bezugswort". It's singular and male àthe relative pronoun must be singular and male, too
• The people is the subject of the relative clause (they hate). He (->den) is the direct object of the relative He is being hated. àaccusative

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

• Mann is the "Bezugswort". It's singular and male àthe relative pronoun must be singular and male, too
• The people is the subject of the relative clause (they gave). The book is the direct object. He (->dem) is the indirect object of the relative He is the beneficiary. àdative

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

• Mann is the "Bezugswort". It's singular and male àthe relative pronoun must be singular and male, too
• He has a dog which is called The dog belongs to him (possesion / ownership) àgenitive

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

examples:

• Ich kenne das Mädchen, das in Cagayan (I know the girl who lives in Cagayan.)
• Ich kenne das Haus, das abgebrannt (I know the house which burned down.)

examples:

• Das ist der Computer, den ich gestern gekauft habe. (That's the computer which I bought )
• Das ist der Computer, ich gestern gekauft (That's the computer I bought yesterday.)

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.

example:

• Das ist der Junge, (comma) der bei der Post arbeitet. (That’s the boy (no comma) who works at the post )

examples:

• Das ist die Frau, auf die gewartet habe. (That the woman who I was waiting for.)
• Sie ist das Mädchen, von dem ich träume. (She is the girl who I dream of.)

In the first sentence the verb is: warten auf (wait for).

In the second sentence the verb is: träumen von (dream of).

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

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.

"declension" of the relative pronoun: welcher