Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns can be translated as ‘who’, 'whom', ‘which’, ‘that’ or 'whose'.
In German, you use the definite articleThe definite article goes before a noun and indicates that the person, place or thing can be identified, ie is specific. In English it would be 'the' or 'this', eg I took the suitcase on holiday., although the genitive singular and dative plural are different.
| m | f | n | pl | |
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Genitive | dessen | deren | dessen | deren |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | denen |
| Nominative | |
|---|---|
| m | der |
| f | die |
| n | das |
| pl | die |
| Accusative | |
|---|---|
| m | den |
| f | die |
| n | das |
| pl | die |
| Genitive | |
|---|---|
| m | dessen |
| f | deren |
| n | dessen |
| pl | deren |
| Dative | |
|---|---|
| m | dem |
| f | der |
| n | dem |
| pl | denen |
How to use relative pronouns
You use relative pronouns to link two sentences together.
To use these pronouns correctly, you must know the right gender of the word.
- Ich habe das Handy gekauft. Das Handy war teuer. - I bought the mobile phone. The mobile phone was expensive.
becomes
- Das Handy, das ich gekauft habe, war teuer. - The mobile phone that I bought was expensive.
A good way of working out how to use relative pronouns correctly is to cut the sentence up like this:
The phone (I bought 'it' = accusative) was expensive.
The phrase 'I bought it' > 'that I bought' is in the accusative, so the accusative form of the relative pronoun is needed.
Question
What do these sentences mean?
- Die Bäume, die im Garten sind, sind sehr hoch.
- Der Mann, dessen Auto eine Panne hat, ist sehr irritiert.
- Die Leute, mit denen wir gesprochen haben, waren sehr nett.
- Das war die schwierigste Prüfung, die ich je geschrieben habe.
- Die Bäume, die im Garten sind, sind sehr hoch. - The trees, which are in the garden, are very tall.
- Der Mann, dessen Auto eine Panne hat, ist sehr irritiert. - The man, whose car has broken down, is very irritated.
- Die Leute, mit denen wir gesprochen haben, waren sehr nett. - The people, with whom we talked, were very nice.
- Das war die schwierigste Prüfung, die ich je geschrieben habe. - That was the hardest test that I have ever done.
Question
Now link these sentences with a suitable relative pronoun. What do they mean?
- Ich werde das Spiel sehen. Das Spiel beginnt um 19 Uhr.
- Die Schule hat einen guten Ruf. Die Schüler haben gute Noten.
- Die Musik ist einfach zu speichern. Man ladet die Musik herunter.
- Mein Freund heißt Thomas. Ich gehe mit Thomas wandern.
| German | English | Form used |
| Das Spiel, das ich sehen werde, beginnt um 19 Uhr. | The match, which I will watch, starts at 19.00. | Accusative: ‘which I will watch’ – I will watch ‘it’ |
| Die Schule, deren Schüler gute Noten haben, hat einen guten Ruf. | The school, whose pupils have good grades, has a good reputation. | Genitive: ‘whose’ – the school’s pupils/the pupils of the school |
| Die Musik, die man herunterladet, ist einfach zu speichern. | The music that you download is easy to save. | Nominative: ‘that’ - ‘it (literally: she = Musik) is easy to save’. |
| Mein Freund, mit dem ich wandern gehe, heißt Thomas. | My friend, with whom I am going hiking, is called Thomas. | Dative: ‘with whom’ – I am going with him – mit is a dative preposition. |
| Das Spiel, das ich sehen werde, beginnt um 19 Uhr. | |
|---|---|
| English | The match, which I will watch, starts at 19.00. |
| Form used | Accusative: ‘which I will watch’ – I will watch ‘it’ |
| Die Schule, deren Schüler gute Noten haben, hat einen guten Ruf. | |
|---|---|
| English | The school, whose pupils have good grades, has a good reputation. |
| Form used | Genitive: ‘whose’ – the school’s pupils/the pupils of the school |
| Die Musik, die man herunterladet, ist einfach zu speichern. | |
|---|---|
| English | The music that you download is easy to save. |
| Form used | Nominative: ‘that’ - ‘it (literally: she = Musik) is easy to save’. |
| Mein Freund, mit dem ich wandern gehe, heißt Thomas. | |
|---|---|
| English | My friend, with whom I am going hiking, is called Thomas. |
| Form used | Dative: ‘with whom’ – I am going with him – mit is a dative preposition. |
