Relative Pronouns

Question 1

Der (who, which, that)

Answer 1

Der takes gender and number from noun it refers to
Eg Der Mann, dem ich helfen musste

Relative clauses are less frequent in spoken German than in writing

The genitive of Der refers to ‘whose’/‘of which’
Eg die Frau, deren Namen ich immer vergesse
After prepositions shorter form Der also occurs for Deren

The constructions such as ‘one of whom’, ‘most of which’, ‘some of which’ use ‘von denen’

• von denen ich einen kenne
• von denen ich die meisten kenne
• von denen ich einige kenne

The pronoun is repeated for first and second person personal pronouns
Eg für mich, die ich nicht ordentlich lesen konnte

Question 2

Welcher (which, who, that)

Answer 2

Welcher is used chiefly as a stylistic variant of Der and has the same endings as dieser

Question 3

Was (what)

Answer 3

Was is used after neuter indefinites (eg alles, einiges, etwas, manches, nichts, vieles)
Nichts/etwas/alles, was er sagte, war mir neu

Was is used after a neuter adjective used as a noun referring to something indefinite
Eg das Erste, was Evelyn sah, waren Mariannes Augen

Was is used after the indefinite demonstrative das
Eg eben das, was uns fehlte, hat er uns verweigert

Was is used to refer back to a whole clause
Eg er hat seinen Examen bestanden, was mich sehr erstaunt

Question 4

Relative pronouns after prepositions

Answer 4

Standard usage is the appropriate form of Der after the preposition
Eg der Stuhl, auf dem du sitzt

Wo(r) + preposition is used in all contexts where was is used as a relative pronoun
Das, woran du denkst, errate ich nie

Question 5

The one who/ he who/ that which

Answer 5

Wer/was can be used in generalisations
Eg wer viele Freunde hat, ist glücklich

If there is a difference in case or construction between the two clauses, an appropriate relative demonstrative pronoun can be used
Eg was wir getan haben, darüber müssen wir auch Rechenschaft ablegen

Relative pronouns after demonstrative pronouns:
Demonstrative Der followed by relative der is most common
Eg die, die gingen, haben in der DDR mehr verändert als die, die bleiben

Demonstrative derjenigen followed by der is also used in the same way

Question 6

Other forms of relative pronoun

Answer 6

To refer to a place, wo can be used as a relative pronoun
Eg die Stadt, wo ich wohne
If motion is involved hin/her is used

With time (equivalent to English when):

Preposition with der is widely accepted for writing:
Eg den Tag, an dem er ankam

Als (for past time) and wenn (for present and future) are possible alternatives

Wie used to indicate manner (especially after Die Art)

Warum is used to indicate cause, chiefly after der Grund