Introduction to Relativpronomen
In German, relative pronouns are used to connect two sentences or clauses and provide additional information about a noun. They correspond to "who," "which," and "that" in English. German relative pronouns take different forms based on gender, case, and number.
Relative Pronouns in Different Cases
| Case |
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominativ |
der |
die |
das |
die |
| Akkusativ |
den |
die |
das |
die |
| Dativ |
dem |
der |
dem |
denen |
| Genitiv |
dessen |
deren |
dessen |
deren |
Examples of Sentences with Relativpronomen
- Der Mann, der hier arbeitet, ist sehr nett. (The man who works here is very nice.) - Nominativ, Masculine
- Die Frau, die das Buch liest, ist meine Mutter. (The woman who is reading the book is my mother.) - Nominativ, Feminine
- Das Auto, das ich gekauft habe, ist rot. (The car that I bought is red.) - Akkusativ, Neuter
- Die Kinder, denen ich geholfen habe, sind dankbar. (The children whom I helped are grateful.) - Dativ, Plural
- Der Hund, dessen Besitzer im Urlaub ist, bellt viel. (The dog whose owner is on vacation barks a lot.) - Genitiv, Masculine
Special Notes
The relative pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to, but the case is determined by the function of the relative clause. For example:
- Die Frau, die das Buch hat - Here, "die" is Nominativ because the woman is the subject.
- Das Buch, das ich lese - Here, "das" is Akkusativ because the book is the object.