Relative Pronouns (Relativpronomen)¶

Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause—a dependent clause that gives more information about a noun (the "antecedent") in the main clause.

In English, the main relative pronouns are "who," "which," and "that."

In German, the main relative pronouns are der, die, and das. They look almost identical to definite articles, but they have special forms in the Genitive and Dative Plural.

The Two Rules for Relative Pronouns¶

Gender & Number: The pronoun gets its gender (masc., fem., neut.) and number (sing., plur.) from the noun it describes in the main clause.
Case: The pronoun gets its case (Nom., Akk., Dat., Gen.) from its function or job inside the relative clause.

Relative Pronoun Declension¶

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nom.	der	die	das	die
Akk.	den	die	das	die
Dat.	dem	der	dem	denen
Gen.	dessen	deren	dessen	deren

Note: The forms welcher, welche, welches can also be used, but they are much more formal and less common. der, die, das is standard.

Examples¶

Nominative: (The pronoun is the subject of the relative clause)
- Hier ist der Mann, der Deutsch spricht.
- (Here is the man [antecedent: masc., sing.]. Who speaks German? [subject: Nom.])
Accusative: (The pronoun is the direct object in the relative clause)
- Das ist der Bus, den ich nehme.
- (That is the bus [antecedent: masc., sing.]. I take whom/what? [direct object: Akk.])
Dative: (The pronoun is the indirect object or follows a dative preposition)
- Wo ist die Frau, der du geholfen hast?
- (Where is the woman [antecedent: fem., sing.]. You helped whom? [dative object: Dat.])
Dative Plural (Exception):
- Das sind die Kinder, denen wir Bücher geben.
- (Those are the children [antecedent: plural]. We give books to whom? [dative object: Dat. Plur. -> denen])
Genitive (Exception): (The pronoun shows possession)
- Ich kenne den Mann, dessen Hund so laut bellt.
- (I know the man [antecedent: masc., sing.]. Whose dog is barking so loudly? [possessive: Gen. Masc. -> dessen])