German Relative Clauses: Der, Die, Das Explained

German relative clauses: gender from the noun, case from the clause

English can drop “whom” or “that”. German never drops the relative pronoun.

Short answer: a relative clause describes a noun: “the man who lives here”. In German, the relative pronoun is almost the same as the definite article. Take its gender and number from the noun it describes, its case from its job inside the clause, and send the clause’s verb to the end, as in all subordinate clauses.

The relative pronouns

Compare this with the article table in the four cases: only the five red cells differ. They all add an extra syllable.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Dative	dem	der	dem	denen
Genitive	dessen	deren	dessen	deren

Build it: one noun, four cases

The noun stays the same; only its job in the relative clause changes. Choose a role to see which pronoun it needs.

DasthatistisdertheLehrer,teacherderwhoDeutschGermanunterrichtet.teaches

“That’s the teacher who teaches German.”das ist dair LAIR-uh, dair DOYCH oon-tuh-RIKH-tut

Test: he teaches German → er: nominative → der.

With a preposition: it goes in front

English often leaves the preposition dangling at the end: “the friend I live with”. German never does. The preposition moves to the front of the clause, right before the pronoun, and it is the preposition, not the verb, that decides the case (see prepositions).

English	German	Why this pronoun
The friend I live with is a doctor.	Die Freundin, mit der ich wohne, ist Ärztin.dee FROYN-din, mit dair ikh VOH-nuh, ist AIRTS-tinDietheFreundin,friendmit derwith-whomichIwohne,liveistisÄrztin.doctor	dativemit + feminine → der
The house we live in is old.	Das Haus, in dem wir wohnen, ist alt.das HOWS, in daym veer VOH-nun, ist ALTDastheHaus,housein demin-whichwirwewohnen,liveistisalt.old	dativein for location + neuter → dem
The film everyone’s talking about is great.	Der Film, über den alle reden, ist toll.dair FILM, Ü-buh dayn AL-uh RAY-dun, ist TOLDertheFilm,filmüber denabout-whichalleeveryonereden,talkististoll.great	accusativereden über + acc., masculine → den
The people I work with are nice.	Die Leute, mit denen ich arbeite, sind nett.dee LOY-tuh, mit DAY-nun ikh AR-by-tuh, zint NETDietheLeute,peoplemit denenwith-whomichIarbeite,worksindarenett.nice	dativemit + plural → denen
The reason I came (for)…	Der Grund, für den ich gekommen bin…dair GROONT, für dayn ikh guh-KOM-un BINDertheGrund,reasonfür denfor-whichichIgekommen bin…have-come	accusativefür + masculine → den
The town she comes from is by the sea.	Die Stadt, aus der sie kommt, liegt am Meer.dee SHTAT, ows dair zee KOMT, leekt am MAIRDietheStadt,townaus derfrom-whichsieshekommt,comesliegtliesam Meer.by-the-sea	dativeaus + feminine → der

With things (not people), written German can merge preposition and pronoun into one word: das Haus, worin wir wohnen (VOH-rin). In speech you will usually hear wo instead: das Haus, wo wir wohnen.

“Whose”: dessen and deren

For possession, use dessen after a masculine or neuter noun and deren after a feminine or plural noun. The thing owned then follows with no article.

DertheAutor,authordessenwhoseBuchbookichIlese,readkommtcomesausfromWien.Vienna

“The author whose book I’m reading is from Vienna.”dair OW-tor, DES-un BOOKH ikh LAY-zuh, komt ows VEEN

DietheNachbarn,neighboursderenwhoseHunddogbellt,barkssindarenieneverda.there

“The neighbours whose dog barks are never in.”dee NAKH-barn, DAIR-un HOONT BELT, zint nee DAH

Was and wo

was After alles, nichts, etwas, das and superlatives, and to refer to a whole clause.

wo After a place, and in speech after a time, instead of in dem.