Nuts & Bolts of German (Explanations): Relative clauses

1.	A relative clause gives more information about a noun that has been mentioned in a previous part of the sentence, e.g.

Der Hamburger Dom ist ein großes Volksfest. (The Hamburger Dom is a huge amusement fair.)

*Der Hamburger Dom* ist ein großes Volksfest,**	das dreimal pro Jahr stattfindet.	*The Hamburger Dom* is a huge amusement fair which takes place three times a year.**
	relative clause

2.	A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause, i.e. it can not exist on its own. Remember that, in a subordinate clause, the conjugated part of the verb moves to the end of this clause.

Er kommt nie zu spät zur Arbeit. (He is never late for work.)

Das ist ein Student,	der nie zu spät zur Arbeit kommt.	This is a student who is never late for work.
	relative clause

3.	A relative clause starts with a relative pronoun which German, unlike English, can never omit, e.g.

Is that the man (whom) you saw yesterday in the bank?

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Ist das der Mann,	den	du gestern in der Bank gesehen hast?
	relative pronoun

4.	With the exception of the all the genitive forms and dative plural, the forms of the relative pronoun are identical to those of the definite article, e.g.

	masculine singular	feminine singular	neuter singular	masculine, feminine & neuter plural
nominative	der	die	das	die
accusative	den	die	das	die
dative	dem	der	dem	denen
genitive	dessen	deren	dessen	deren

5.	The relative pronoun has the same gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) and number (singular or plural) as the noun it gives more information about, but its case depends on its function in the relative clause, e.g.

5.1

fem. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Belen ist eine deutsche	Firma,	die	Süßgebäck produziert.	Belen is a German company which produces sweet biscuits.
		↓ the relative pronoun takes on the role of the subject in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the nominative case -> nominative/feminine/singular -> "die"

5.2

neut. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

XYZ ist ein deutsches	Unternehmen,	das	Solarzellen produziert.	XYZ is a German company which produces solar cells.
		↓ the relative pronoun takes on the role of the subject in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the nominative case -> nominative/neuter/singular -> "das"

5.3

masc. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Das ist sein	Bruder,	den	du auf der Weihnachtsfeier kennengelernt hast.	This is his brother whom you met at the Christmas party.
		↓ the relative pronoun takes on the role of the direct object in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the accusative case -> accusative/masculine/singular -> "den"

5.4

plural

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Hier sehen Sie die	Produkte,	die	wir ab Herbst nach Südamerika exportieren werden.	Here you see the products which we will export to South America from next autumn.
		↓ he relative pronoun takes on the role of the direct object in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the accusative case -> accusative/plural -> "die"

5.5

masc. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Das ist mein	Kollege,	dem	wir diese Aufgabe gegeben haben.	This is my colleague to whom we gave the task.
		↓ the relative pronoun takes on the role of the indirect object in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the dative case -> dative/masculine/singular -> "dem"

5.6

fem. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Wie heißt die	Kundin,	der	Sie den Katalog geschickt haben?	What is the name of the [female] customer to whom you sent the catalogue?
		↓ the relative pronoun takes on the role of the indirect object in the relative clause, therefore it has to be in the dative case -> dative/feminine/singular -> "der"

5.7

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Herr Bauer,

dessen

Frau vor drei Monaten ein Kind bekommen hat,

sieht sehr müde aus.

Mr. Bauer whose wife had a child 3 months ago looks very tired.

↑

masc. sing.

↓

the relative pronoun is part of the genitive (dessen Frau = whose wife) ->

genitive/masculine/singular -> "dessen"

5.8

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Die Katze,

deren

Halsband wir gefunden haben,

heißt Felix.

The cat whose collar we found is called Felix.

↑

fem. sing.

↓

the relative pronoun is part of the genitive (deren Halsband = whose collar) ->

genitive/feminine/singular -> "deren"

6.	Relative pronouns can occur together with a preposition. The preposition always comes before the relative pronoun, never at the end of the clause as they sometimes do in English, e.g. The parcel which you were waiting for has arrived.

preposition

↓

relative pronoun

↓

Das Paket,

auf

das

Sie gewartet haben,

ist angekommen.

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

7.	The preposition determines the case of the relative pronoun (apart from 2 exceptions, see point 8), e.g.

7.1

neut. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Warum rufen Sie nicht Ihren	Kollegen	an,	von	dem	wir den Computer bekommen haben?	Why don't you call your colleague who gave us the computer?
				↓ the relative pronoun comes after "von"; this preposition is always followed by the dative case -> dative/masculine/singular -> "dem"

7.2

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Meine ehemaligen Kollegen,

denen

ich nächstes Wochenende fahre,

sind noch sehr aktiv.

My former colleagues who I am going to visit next weekend are still very active.

↑

plural

↓

the relative pronoun comes after "zu"; this preposition is always followed by the dative case -> dative/plural -> "denen"

7.3

fem. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Das ist meine

Schwester,

ohne

die

ich die Stelle nie bekommen hätte.

This is my sister. I wouldn't have got the job without her.

↓

the relative pronoun comes after "ohne"; this preposition is always followed by the accusative case -> accusative/feminine/singular -> "die"

7.4

neut. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Ich möchte in einem	Unternehmen	arbeiten,	in	dem	ein gutes Betriebsklima herrscht.	I would like to live in a country in which a good working atmosphere prevails.
				↓ the relative pronoun comes after "in"; in this case "in" is followed by the dative case since you can only ask "where?" and not "where .... to?"-> dative/neuter/singular -> "dem"

7.5

fem. sing.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Der Schreibtisch hat nur eine kleine

Schublade,

die

kein Aktenordner passt.

The desk only has a small drawer. No folder fits into it.

↓

the relative pronoun comes after "in"; in this case "in" is followed by the accusative case since you can ask "where ... to?"-> accusative/feminine/singular -> "die"

8.	Prepositions before "deren" and "dessen" do not affect their cases, e.g.

plural.

↓

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e

Kennst du die	Leute,	in	deren	Büro die Party war?	Do you know the people in whose office the party was held?
			↓ the relative pronoun is part of the genitive (deren Haus = whose house) -> genitive/plural -> "deren"

Nuts & Bolts of German (Explanations): Relative clauses (B1)