Introduction to Relativsätze
In German, relative clauses (Relativsätze) provide additional information about a noun. They begin with a relative pronoun, which refers to a noun in the main sentence. The choice of relative pronoun depends on the gender, case, and number of the noun it refers to.
Relative Pronouns in Nominative and Accusative
| Gender |
Nominativ |
Akkusativ |
| Masculine |
der |
den |
| Feminine |
die |
die |
| Neuter |
das |
das |
| Plural |
die |
die |
Examples of Relativsätze in Nominativ
When the noun in the relative clause is the subject, the relative pronoun is in the nominative case.
- Der Mann, der hier wohnt, ist mein Nachbar. (The man who lives here is my neighbor.)
- Die Frau, die das Buch liest, ist meine Mutter. (The woman who is reading the book is my mother.)
- Das Kind, das spielt, ist glücklich. (The child who is playing is happy.)
- Die Leute, die dort stehen, sind meine Freunde. (The people who are standing there are my friends.)
Examples of Relativsätze in Akkusativ
When the noun in the relative clause is the object, the relative pronoun is in the accusative case.
- Der Film, den ich gesehen habe, war spannend. (The movie that I watched was exciting.)
- Die Frau, die ich gestern getroffen habe, ist Lehrerin. (The woman whom I met yesterday is a teacher.)
- Das Buch, das er liest, ist interessant. (The book that he is reading is interesting.)
- Die Freunde, die wir eingeladen haben, kommen heute Abend. (The friends whom we invited are coming tonight.)
Special Notes
Remember that in German relative clauses, the verb goes to the end of the clause. Additionally, the relative pronoun must match the noun in gender and number but follows the case needed in the relative clause.