German grammar · Intermediate (B1)
Relative clauses: der Mann, der …
How to describe people and things with relative clauses: the relative pronouns der, die, das, den, dem, denen, with and without a preposition.
What is a relative clause?
A relative clause adds information about a noun, like English “who”, “which” or “that”: (the man who is standing next to the sofa). It's separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, and its verb goes to the end.
German never leaves out the relative pronoun, even where English can: (the book I'm reading).
The relative pronouns
The relative pronouns look like . Only the dative plural () is different from the article. There is also a genitive (: whose), which you'll meet later.
| Case | masculine | feminine | neuter | plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ||||
| accusative | ||||
| dative |
Gender from the noun, case from the clause
The gender and number come from the noun the clause describes. The case comes from the pronoun's job inside the relative clause: subject (nominative), object (accusative), or dative (for example after , or with a person who receives something).
- Das ist die Frau, die neben uns wohnt.That's the woman who lives next to us. (subject)
- Das ist der Nussknacker, den mir mein Vater geschenkt hat.That's the nutcracker (that) my father gave me. (object)
- Das sind die Kinder, denen wir helfen.Those are the children (who) we help. (dative)
With a preposition
If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition, the preposition comes first, followed by the pronoun in the case the preposition takes: , . English often puts the preposition at the end (“the friends I celebrate with”); German never does.
- Das ist ein Essen, mit dem man nicht viel Arbeit hat.It's a meal that doesn't take much work.
- Das ist die Stadt, in der ich geboren bin.That's the town where I was born.