Relative pronouns are words that are used to introduce a relative clause, standing in for the element that the main clause and the relative clause have in common. In the examples below “that” is a relative pronoun:
- No relative pronoun:repeated nounThe house had three bedrooms. She bought the house.
- With a relative pronoun:nounrelative clauseThe house that she bought had three bedrooms.
In German, the most common relative pronouns are der/die/das meaning that and welcher/welche/welches meaning that (formal). Each of these can come in several different forms, depending on what element they replace.
In this post, we’ll talk about how to form German relative clauses, how to pick the right relative pronoun, and take you through several different examples. Then, at the end of the post, we’ll talk about some less common relative pronouns and when to use them. Ready to have a look? Let’s investigate!
How to form relative clauses in German?
In German, we form relative clauses a lot like you do in English, but there are a couple differences which we’ve called out for you using exclamation marks.
Let’s say you have two ideas that involve a common element. For example:
To combine those statements…
You use a relative pronoun to replace the common element with a relative pronoun:
common elementrelative pronounManchmal frisst mein Hund Salat. → …manchmal frisst der Salat.Translation: Sometimes my dog eats salad. → …sometimes who eats salad.You change the word order so that the relative pronoun introduces the relative clause:
relative pronoun…manchmal frisst der Salat → …der manchmal frisst SalatTranslation: …sometimes who eats salad → …who sometimes eats saladYou’ll also need to move the verb to the end of the clause, which is a common rule for subordinate clauses in German!
verbrelative pronoun…der manchmal frisst Salat → …der manchmal Salat frisstTranslation: …who sometimes eats salad → lit. …who sometimes salad eatsYou combine the two statements together, using the relative clause to describe the common element:
common elementrelative pronounIch liebe mein Hund, der manchmal Salat frisst, so sehr.Translation: I love my dog, who sometimes eats salad, so much.
Now, let’s look a little more closely at the differences between German and English relative clauses.
How to determine the form of the relative pronoun in German?
In German, each of the two main relative pronouns, der/die/das and welcher/welche/welches. Der/die/das is used in everyday speech, while welcher/welche/welches is more formal. Both, though, come in several different forms.
How do you pick the form you will use in a given sentence? To do this you have to look at two factors:
The gender and number of the “common element” the relative pronoun replaces.
The grammatical role the relative pronoun plays in the relative clause (in other words, its “case.”)
Let’s look at this using the relative clause we discussed above. Remember that we started with two statements that had a common element: “my dog.”
Let’s look for the two pieces of information we need:
In German, the common element, der Hund meaning dog, is masculine and singular, so this gives us the first piece of information we need.
Next, we look at the role that mein Hund plays in the sentence that will become the relative clause. In the second sentence above, mein Hund is the subject, and so it is in the nominative case.
Since we want the masculine singular nominative form, we can now look it up in the table below. As you can see, the masculine singular nominative form is: der!
Here is the table. Notice that the endings for the German relative pronouns are mostly the same as the endings of the definite article.
| Forms of der/die/das and welcher/welche/welches as relative pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative (subject) | derwelcher | diewelche | daswelches | diewelche |
Accusative (direct object) | denwelchen | diewelche | daswelches | diewelche |
Dative (indirect object) | demwelchem | derwelcher | demwelchem | denenwelchen |
Genitive (genitive attribute) | dessen— | deren / derer*— | dessen— | deren— |
Where to put the relative clause in German?
In German, like in English, the relative clause usually directly follows the noun it modifies, and is surrounded by commas. It is very important for the relative clause to stay close to this noun. If it’s placed differently, the meaning can change.
When the context is clear, though, the verb can often fall between the noun and the relative pronoun:
✅ Ich habe den Mann gesehen, der Hugo heißt.
Making German relative clauses: Some more examples
Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to form German relative clauses, let’s look at some additional examples that will help you practice identifying which form of the relative pronoun you should use.
Example 1: Dative
Let’s start with these two statements:
The common element is: (die) Frau
Replace the common element in the second sentence. What form do we use?
(die) Frau, the common element, is feminine singular
In the second statement, the woman receives something = dative
Dative singular feminine = (die) Frau
Move the relative pronoun to the front and the verb to the end:
relative pronounconjugated verbich habe der ein Buch gegeben. → der ich ein Buch gegeben habeInsert this new relative clause into the main clause:
modified nounrelative clauseDiese Frau, der ich ein Buch gegeben habe, heißt Marie.Translation: This woman, (to) whom I gave a book, is called Mary.
Example 2: Genitive
Now let’s try it with these two statements:
The common element is a bit more difficult to identify here, because they’re identified using different words, but Steve and seine are “common elements” because seine meaning his refers to Steve.
Replace the common element in the second sentence. What form do we use?
Steve, the common element, is masculine singular
In the second statement, Steve is a possessor = genitive
Genitive singular masculine = dessen
Move the relative pronoun to the front (it is already there, so nothing to do) and the verb to the end:
relative pronounconjugated verbdessen Mutter ist Krankenschwester → dessen Mutter Krankenschwester istInsert this new relative clause into the main clause:
modified nounrelative clauseSteve, dessen Mutter Krankenschwester ist, ist ein Mitschüler von mir.Translation: Steve, whose mother is a nurse, is one of my classmates.
Example 3: Accusative
One last example! Let’s combine these two statements:
The common element in this case is: (der) Brief
Replace the common element in the second sentence. What pronoun should we use?
Der Brief, the common element, is masculine singular
In the second statement, (der) Brief follows (warten) auf → accusative case
Accusative singular masculine = den
Move the relative pronoun and the preposition to the front and the verb to the end:
conjugated verbrelative pronounprepositionich hatte lange auf den gewartet → auf den ich lange gewartet hattePut the new relative clause right after the common element:
modified nounrelative clauseHeute ist ein Brief, auf den ich lange gewartet hatte, angekommen.Translation: Today, a letter that I had long been waiting for arrived.
And that’s all you need to know about basic relative clauses in German. Let’s talk now about some less common relative pronouns and when you might want to use them!
When to use ‘wer,’ ‘was,’ and ‘wo,’ as relative pronouns?
In German, you can sometimes use the interrogative pronouns wer meaning who, was meaning what, and wo meaning where like relative pronouns, but their use is restricted to certain contexts.
‘Wer’
Wer meaning who can only be used like a relative pronoun in relative clauses that do not have an “antecedent noun.” This means that instead of modifying a noun, clauses introduced by wer represent a noun. Compare:
- modified nounrelative clauseDer Mann, der zuletzt lacht, lacht am längsten.Translation: The man who laughs last, laughs longer.
- "wer" clauseWer zuletzt lacht, lacht am längsten.Translation: Whoever laughs last, laughs longer.There is no modified noun. The clause wer zuletzt lacht acts directly as the subject of the sentence.
‘Was’
Was meaning what is used in three cases:
Like wer, not referring to anything concretely:
Was du sagst, ist unmöglich.Translation: What you’re saying is impossible.With certain expressions, like alles, was meaning everything that, nichts, was meaning nothing that, das, was meaning that which, etc.
Du willst immer alles, was ich habe!Translation: You always want everything (that) I have.It can refer back to a whole clause, in which case it is translated as “which”:
modified clauseEr kommt immer zu spät, was ich einfach nicht verstehen kann.Translation: He always comes late, which I simply can’t understand.
‘Wo’
Wo meaning where refers to a place, which can be a town, a country, the supermarket, or simply the word Ort meaning place:
‘Wo’-compounds
The combination wo(r)- + preposition (also known as “wo-compound”) can be used to replace a preposition + relative pronoun, when the relative pronoun refers to something nonspecific. Let’s take the example with the letter from above and replace the combination auf den with worauf.
- Heute ist ein Brief, auf den ich lange gewartet hatte, angekommen.Translation: Today, a letter that I had long been waiting for arrived.
- Das, worauf ich lange gewartet hatte, ist endlich eingetroffen.Translation: The thing that I had long been waiting for has finally happened.Literally: That which-for I had long been waiting, has finally happened.
Prepositions starting with a vowel require that wo- changes to wor-. Check out our table of wo-compounds to see all the possible forms!
Summing up
Great, that’s all you need to know about relative clauses in German! Let’s take a quick look at what we’ve covered today:
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about a person or a thing in the main clause.
In German, the form of the relative pronoun is determined based on the gender and number of the common element and the role of the common element in the clause that will become a relative clause.
The relative pronoun always introduces the relative clause, and the conjugated verb is always the last word in the relative clause.
If the relative pronoun comes after a preposition, then this preposition “sticks with” the relative pronoun.
In German, interrogative pronouns like wer meaning who can only be used as relative pronouns in very specialized cases. Your best bet as a learner is to use der/die/das everywhere!
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our German relative clause exercises! Happy learning!
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