German Relative Pronouns and how to use them

What is a relative pronoun?

A relative pronoun is used to make it clear who or what you are talking about. The English relative pronouns are who, which, whom and that.

For example:

That’s the woman who bumped into my car last week.

This is the house which needs cleaning.

The ring that you bought was quite expensive.

A relative pronoun is also used to give further information about someone or something.

For example:

John, who is a very good doctor, wants to open his own practice next year.

My cat, which is 15 years old, is really ill.

The German relative pronouns are declined as follows:

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

When to use which relative pronoun depends on the gender, the case and whether the relative pronoun refers to something singular or plural. Relative clauses are always separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

Examples of German Relative Pronouns

Nominative: Das ist der Mann, der mir heute geholfen hat. – That’s the man, who was helping me today.
Accusative: Der Kunde, den ich vor einer Woche angerufen habe, hat seine Rechnung immer noch nicht bezahlt. – The customer, who I called last week, still hasn’t paid his invoice.
Dative: Die Frau, der ich morgen das Buch geben werde, hat heute Geburtstag. – The woman, who I’ll give the book tomorrow, has her birthday today.
Genitive: Das Mädchen, dessen Puppe gestohlen worden ist, wohnt jetzt nicht mehr in München. – The girl, whose doll was stolen, doesn’t live in Munich anymore.

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