Relative Clauses

I. Theory

Relative clauses are used to provide additional information regarding the noun of a sentence. In English, this information often follows who, which, or that. This is slightly more complex in German as gender, case and number play a role in determining which relative pronoun to use.

Ich sehe den Mann. I see the man. Der Mann ist im Park. The man is in the park. Ich sehe den Mann, der im Park ist. I see the man who is in the park. Wir lesen das Buch. We are reading the book. Unser Professor hat das Buch empfohlen. Our professor recommended the book. Wir lesen das Buch, das unser Professor empfohlen hat. We are reading the book that our professor recommended. Ich helfe der Frau im Garten. I help the woman in the garden. Sie ist meine Oma. She is my grandmother. Die Frau, der ich im Garten helfe, ist meine Oma. The woman whom I help in the garden is my grandmother.

II. Relative Pronouns

As you can see in the sentences above, the pronoun used in the relative clause reflects the case, gender, and number of the noun in the main clause. The chart below shows which pronoun corresponds to which case:

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

Der Mann, dessen Auto in der Straße steht, ist mein Nachbar. The man whose car is in the street is my neighbor. Dies sind die Länder, aus denen die Einwanderer gekommen sind. These are the countries from which the immigrants came. Ich gehe am Wochenende zu dem Buchladen, den ich so sehr mag. On the weekends, I go to the bookstore that I love.

III. Word Order

Since relative clauses are subordinate clauses, the verb usually is found at the end of the sentence. The relative clause always starts with a comma.

Da ist Herr Müller, der immer um 4 Uhr nachmittags spazieren geht. There is Mr. Müller who always goes for a walk at 4pm. Das ist der Mann, den ich gestern Abend bei dem Fest kennengelernt habe. That’s the man whom I met last night at the party. Mein Mitbewohner hat die Flasche Wein getrunken, die meine Mutter mir geschenkt hatte. My roommate drank the bottle of wine that my mother had given me.

IV. Prepositions with Relative Pronouns

It is very simple to incorporate a preposition into a relative clause in German. The preposition goes before the relative pronoun at the beginning of the sentence. This is similar to the English: with which, for which, to which, etc. The relative pronoun always corresponds to the case governed by the preposition before it.

Das ist der Kuli, mit dem ich schreibe. That is the pen with which I write. Das ist die Künstlerin, über die wir gesprochen hatten. That is the artist, about whom we were talking. Heidelberg ist die Uni, an der ich studiere. Heidelberg ist the university at which I study. Morgen ist die Prüfung, auf die ich mich vorbereiten muss. Tomorrow is the test for which I must prepare.