Relative Clauses in German

Overview

Relative clauses allow you to add information about a noun without starting a new sentence. Instead of saying "The man is my teacher. The man is standing there," you can combine them: "The man who is standing there is my teacher." In German: "Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer." At the B1 level, relative clauses are a key tool for building more complex, natural-sounding sentences.

German relative clauses use relative pronouns that look almost identical to the definite articles (der, die, das), but they function differently. The relative pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to (its antecedent), while its case is determined by its function within the relative clause. This double requirement — matching gender from outside and case from inside — is what makes relative clauses challenging but also fascinating.

Like all German subordinate clauses, relative clauses send the conjugated verb to the end and are always set off by commas.

How It Works

Relative Pronouns

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

Note: These are mostly identical to the definite articles, with two key exceptions in the plural: denen (dative) and deren (genitive).

How to Choose the Right Relative Pronoun

1. Gender/Number: Match the noun being described (the antecedent).
2. Case: Determined by the role of the pronoun within the relative clause.

Example analysis:

• "Der Mann, den ich sehe, ist nett."
• Antecedent: "der Mann" (masculine)
• Role in relative clause: direct object of "sehe" (accusative)
• Therefore: masculine accusative = den

Word Order

The conjugated verb goes to the end of the relative clause:

• Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer.
• Das Buch, das ich lese, ist spannend.

Relative pronouns with prepositions

When the relative pronoun follows a preposition, the preposition comes first:

• Die Stadt, in der ich wohne. (The city in which I live.)
• Der Mann, mit dem ich spreche. (The man with whom I speak.)

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer.	The man who is standing there is my teacher.	Masculine nominative
Das Buch, das ich lese, ist interessant.	The book that I'm reading is interesting.	Neuter accusative
Die Frau, der ich helfe.	The woman whom I'm helping.	Feminine dative (helfen + dative)
Die Kinder, die im Garten spielen.	The children who are playing in the garden.	Plural nominative
Der Film, den wir gesehen haben.	The film that we saw.	Masculine accusative
Das Restaurant, in dem wir gegessen haben.	The restaurant in which we ate.	Neuter dative with preposition
Die Kollegin, mit der ich arbeite.	The colleague with whom I work.	Feminine dative with preposition
Der Mann, dessen Auto rot ist.	The man whose car is red.	Masculine genitive
Die Leute, denen ich geholfen habe.	The people whom I helped.	Plural dative
Das Haus, das wir kaufen wollen.	The house that we want to buy.	Neuter accusative

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong case for the relative pronoun

• Wrong: Der Mann, der ich sehe, ist nett.
• Right: Der Mann, den ich sehe, ist nett.
• Why: The relative pronoun is the direct object of "sehe" (accusative), not the subject (nominative). Even though the antecedent "der Mann" is nominative, the pronoun's case comes from its role inside the relative clause.

Forgetting verb-final word order

• Wrong: Das Buch, das ist interessant, das ich lese.
• Right: Das Buch, das ich lese, ist interessant.
• Why: The conjugated verb in the relative clause must go to the end. The relative clause is inserted right after its antecedent.

Missing commas around the relative clause

• Wrong: Der Mann der dort steht ist mein Lehrer.
• Right: Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer.
• Why: German relative clauses are always enclosed in commas. This is not optional.

Confusing relative pronouns with subordinating conjunctions

• Wrong: Das Buch, dass ich lese. (with "dass")
• Right: Das Buch, das ich lese. (with "das")
• Why: "Das" (one s) is the relative pronoun (neuter). "Dass" (double s) is the subordinating conjunction meaning "that." They sound identical but are spelled differently and have different functions.

Usage Notes

Relative clauses are extremely common in written German and are also used frequently in spoken German — more so than in English, where people might use shorter separate sentences. Germans comfortably embed relative clauses in the middle of sentences, sometimes multiple layers deep. At B1, focus on single relative clauses; nested ones come later.

The genitive relative pronouns dessen and deren are used in both written and spoken German and cannot be easily avoided: "Der Mann, dessen Frau Ärztin ist" (The man whose wife is a doctor). They replace possessive pronouns within the relative clause.

In colloquial speech, you may hear "wo" used as a relative pronoun, especially for locations: "Die Stadt, wo ich wohne" instead of "Die Stadt, in der ich wohne." While common in speech, this is considered informal and should be avoided in writing.

Practice Tips

1. Practice by combining pairs of simple sentences into one sentence with a relative clause: "Ich lese ein Buch. Das Buch ist interessant." → "Das Buch, das ich lese, ist interessant." Work through nominative, accusative, and dative examples.
2. When determining the relative pronoun, always ask two questions: (1) What gender/number is the antecedent? (2) What case does the pronoun need inside the relative clause? Answering both questions systematically prevents errors.
3. Read German texts and underline relative clauses. Identify the antecedent, the relative pronoun, its gender, number, and case. This analytical reading builds the pattern recognition you need for production.

Related Concepts

• Subordinate Clauses: weil, dass — the foundational subordinate clause pattern that relative clauses build on
• Complex Sentence Structures — combining multiple clause types in sophisticated sentences