{"id":19691,"date":"2019-01-20T04:24:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-20T14:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/?page_id=19691"},"modified":"2025-08-17T14:57:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T14:57:03","slug":"relative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/grammatik\/relative\/","title":{"rendered":"Relative Clauses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull\" style=\"min-height:323px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"320\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 200vw, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-23934 size-large\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-1024x320.jpg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-1024x320.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-300x94.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-768x240.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-1536x480.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29-1568x490.jpg 1568w, https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1408\/2019\/01\/UMGL-background-germany-29.jpg 1920w\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#362a12\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-h-3-font-size\">Relative Clauses<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigation Advice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is more information on this page than you are likely to have time for.&nbsp; We suggest that you proceed as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/grammatik\/relative\/#Summary\">Summary<\/a>, clicking on the headings for more information and examples where you think you need to.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Then, work through some of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/grammatik\/relative\/#Action\">action mazes<\/a>, which take you through the process of choosing a relative pronoun step by step.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Next, try some of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/grammatik\/relative\/#uebungen\">Practice Exercises<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finally, try the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/rpdiag.html\">Diagnostic Exercises<\/a>&nbsp;to check that you have really mastered<br>the material.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We\u2019ve gone to some lengths to come up with lots of (we hope) interesting and\/or amusing examples of relative clauses, and hope you\u2019ll take the time to look through them: seeing lots of examples in this way will help you get a much better \u201cfeel\u201d for how relative clauses work.&nbsp; On this page, you will generally see one set of examples for each concept, followed by a link called \u201cclick here for more examples\u201d that takes you to the remaining examples for that concept on a separate page [which also occasionally gives a few more details\/explanations of the concepts]. Click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a>&nbsp;to go directly to this other page, e.g. in case you want to print it out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summary &amp; Exercises<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Explanations &amp; Examples<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Action Mazes<br>(Step by step practice with lots of feedback)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Summary\">Summary<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Introduction\">Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"--col-width:33.33%;flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/rpdiag.html\">Diagnostic Exercises<\/a>&nbsp;You will be asked 20 questions. IF YOU GET A QUESTION WRONG, KEEP TRYING UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT. THE PROGRAM WILL ONLY CALCULATE YOUR SCORE IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS. Incorrect guesses will reduce your score. When you are finished, click \u201cSubmit\u201d if you are satisfied with your score. Remember you need a score of at least 80% in order to get a \u201ccheck\u201d for this assignment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"--col-width:66.66%;flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Whereclause\">Where to position the relative clause in the sentence<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Whereverb\">Where to position the verb in the relative clause<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Nominative\">Nominative, Accusative and Dative relative pronouns<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Structured1\">Nominative, Accusative and Dative relative pronouns<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Prepositions\">Relative pronouns with prepositions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Structured2\">Relative pronouns with prepositions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Genitive\">Genitive relative pronouns<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Structured3\">Genitive relative pronouns<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#WerWoWas\">The relative pronouns wer, wo &amp; was<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#uebungen\">Practice Exercises<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#Recognizing\">Recognizing relative clauses<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Summary\"><\/a>Summary and Examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I. <a href=\"#Introduction\">Introduction<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Relative clauses supply additional information about the nouns in a sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In German, the relative pronoun for people <strong>and<\/strong> things will be a form of <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>==&gt; in particular, do not use <i>wer<\/i> (or <i>wen<\/i> or <i>wem<\/i>) to translate English <i>who<\/i> or <i>whom<\/i>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der Mann,&nbsp;<strong>der<\/strong>&nbsp;Rumpelstilzchen liebt.<br><s>Da ist der Mann,&nbsp;<strong>wer<\/strong>&nbsp;Rumpelstilzchen liebt.<\/s><\/td><td>There is the man who loves Rumpelstilzchen.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Relative pronouns may sometimes be omitted in English, but they cannot be omitted in German:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der Mann,&nbsp;<strong>den<\/strong>&nbsp;Rumpelstilzchen liebt.<br><s>Da ist der Mann Rumpelstilzchen liebt.<\/s><\/td><td>There is the man (whom) Rumpelstilzchen loves.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The term &#8220;antecedent&#8221; is used to refer to the noun being referred to by a relative pronoun.&nbsp; Thus in the above example,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der&nbsp;<em>Mann<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong><em>den<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>Rumpelstilzchen liebt.<\/td><td>The antecedent of&nbsp;<strong><em>den<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>is&nbsp;<em>Mann<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">II. <a href=\"#Whereclause\">Where to position the relative clause in the sentence<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is easy: <strong>the relative clause always comes right after the noun it is describing<\/strong>.&nbsp; Here are some examples. In each case, the relative clause is in <strong>bold<\/strong> print, and the noun or noun phrase it is describing is in <em>italics<\/em>. Note also that the relative clause is set off from <strong>the main clause by commas<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Vier Studenten<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong>die nicht sehr gesund aussehen<\/strong>, sitzen in der Mensa und essen.<\/td><td><em>Four students<\/em>&nbsp;<strong>who don\u2019t look very healthy<\/strong>&nbsp;are sitting in the cafeteria and eating.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Stefan trinkt viel zu viel&nbsp;<em>Kaffee<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong>der seinen Magen zerst\u00f6ren wird<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Stefan is drinking much too much&nbsp;<em>coffee<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong>which will destroy his stomach<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is one exception to the above rule: if placing the relative clause right after &#8220;its&#8221; noun in this way would leave the verb in the main clause dangling at the end of the sentence by itself, the resulting sentence would be awkward to comprehend. In such cases, the verb is usually moved in front of the relative clause.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Letztes Jahr haben Stefan, Silke, Anette und Torsten ein Huhn&nbsp;<em>gegessen<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong>das f\u00fcnf Tage auf dem K\u00fcchentisch gelegen hatte<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Last year, Stefan, Silke, Anette and Torsten ate a chicken&nbsp;<strong>which had lain on the kitchen table for five days<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie werden nie die Woche&nbsp;<em>vergessen<\/em>,&nbsp;<strong>die sie danach krank im Bett verbracht haben<\/strong>.<\/td><td>They will never forget the week [which]&nbsp;<strong>they spent sick in bed after that<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">III. <a href=\"#Whereverb\">Where to position the verb in the relative clause<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is easy also: relative clauses are subordinate clauses. Consequently, the conjugated verb comes at the end of the relative clause.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">IV. <a href=\"#Nominative\">Nominative, Accusative and Dative Relative Pronouns<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nominative, Accusative and Dative relative pronouns are normally forms of <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>, regardless of whether they refer to a person or a thing.&nbsp; These differ from the forms of <i>der\/das\/die<\/i> which you have already learned <strong>only in the dative plural<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td>Masculine<\/td><td>Neuter<\/td><td>Feminine<\/td><td>Plural<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nominative<\/td><td>der<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accusative<\/td><td>den<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dative<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>der<\/td><td>denen<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>gender<\/strong> of the relative pronoun is the same as the gender of its <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> (the noun to which it is referring). The <strong>case<\/strong> of the relative pronoun (Nominative, Accusative, Dative or Genitive) depends on its grammatical function in the relative clause. It does <strong>not<\/strong> depend on the grammatical function of the antecedent in the main clause. To make this clear, here is an example of how an <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> in the nominative case (<i>der Laden<\/i>) can be referred to by a relative pronoun in the nominative, accusative or dative case:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,&nbsp;<em>der<\/em>&nbsp;(Nom.) die besten Gummib\u00e4rchen verkauft.<\/td><td>That is the store&nbsp;<em>that<\/em>&nbsp;sells the best gummi-bears.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,&nbsp;<em>den<\/em>&nbsp;(Acc.) ich liebe.<\/td><td>That is the store (<em>that<\/em>) I love.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,&nbsp;<em>dem<\/em>&nbsp;(Dat.) ich \u20ac20.000 schulde.<\/td><td>That is the store&nbsp;<em>to which<\/em>&nbsp;I owe \u20ac20,000.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first case, the store is the subject of the action in the relative clause (it sells the gummi-bears), and hence is referred to by a relative pronoun in the nominative (<i>der<\/i>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the second case, the store is the direct object of my love (I love it), and so is referred to by a relative pronoun in the accusative (<i>den<\/i>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the third case, the store is the object of the dative verb &#8220;schulden&#8221; (to owe), and so is referred to by a relative pronoun in the dative case (<i>dem<\/i>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">V. <a href=\"#Prepositions\">Relative pronouns with prepositions<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In German, prepositions are inseparable from the nouns or pronouns they bring into a sentence. This applies also in relative clauses. Since they are <i>pre<\/i>positions, they will always come in front of the relative pronoun they are associated with. They will also determine the case of the relative<br>pronoun as follows:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Following an<strong> accusative preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be accusative, following a <strong>dative preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be dative, following a <strong>genitive preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be genitive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,&nbsp;<em>f\u00fcr die<\/em>&nbsp;man viel Geld bezahlen mu\u00df.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine&nbsp;<em>for which<\/em>&nbsp;one has to pay a lot of money.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,&nbsp;<em>mit der<\/em>&nbsp;man Aufs\u00e4tze schreiben kann.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine&nbsp;<em>with which<\/em>&nbsp;one can write essays.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first case,&nbsp;<em>f\u00fcr<\/em>&nbsp;is an accusative preposition and is thus followed by a relative pronoun in the accusative (die).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the second case,&nbsp;<em>mit<\/em>&nbsp;is a dative preposition and is thus followed by a relative pronoun in the dative (der).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Following a&nbsp;<strong>two-way preposition<\/strong>&nbsp;the relative pronoun will be accusative if the action in the relative clause involves motion, and dative if the relative clause is describing the location where the action is taking place.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Ein Klassenzimmer ist ein Zimmer,&nbsp;<em>in dem<\/em>&nbsp;man Deutsch lernen kann.<\/td><td>A classroom is a room&nbsp;<em>in which<\/em>&nbsp;one can learn German.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Klassenzimmer ist ein Zimmer,&nbsp;<em>in das&nbsp;<\/em>Franz\u00f6sischstudenten nicht gern gehen.<\/td><td>A classroom is a room&nbsp;<em>into which<\/em>&nbsp;French students don\u2019t like to go.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first case, the classroom is the location in which learning German can take place ==&gt; dative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the second case, the relative clause is about motion into the classroom ==&gt; accusative\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the two-way preposition is not describing motion\/location but rather is part of a&nbsp;<strong>verb + preposition combination<\/strong>&nbsp;(as in \u201csprechen \u00fcber\u201d or \u201cwarten auf\u201d), you need to know whether that particular preposition + verb combination is associated with accusative or dative.&nbsp; If in doubt about this, your best guess is to choose the accusative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>1. Jeff schreibt eine Pr\u00fcfung \u00fcber Relativs\u00e4tze,&nbsp;<em>vor denen<\/em>&nbsp;er keine Angst mehr hat.<\/td><td>Jeff is taking an exam about relative clauses,&nbsp;<em>which&nbsp;<\/em>he\u2019s no longer afraid&nbsp;<em>of<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2. Er hat diese Webseite gelesen,&nbsp;<em>an die<\/em>&nbsp;ihn seine Lehrerin erinnert hat.<\/td><td>He read this webpage,&nbsp;<em>which<\/em>&nbsp;his teacher reminded him&nbsp;<em>of<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Angst haben vor + Dative = to be afraid of<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>erinnern an + Accusative = to remind (someone) of (something)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VI. <a href=\"#Genitive\">Genitive Relative Pronouns<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The genitive relative pronouns mean &#8220;whose&#8221; and work slightly differently: once you know you are trying to say &#8220;whose,&#8221; you choose the correct genitive relative pronoun only according to the gender of its <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a>: <strong>dessen<\/strong> for <strong>masculine and neuter<\/strong> antecedents; <strong>deren<\/strong> for <strong>feminine and plural<\/strong> antecedents. The complete table of relative pronouns is thus:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td>Masculine<\/td><td>Neuter<\/td><td>Feminine<\/td><td>Plural<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nominative<\/td><td>der<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accusative<\/td><td>den<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dative<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>der<\/td><td><strong>denen<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Genitive<\/td><td><strong>dessen<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>dessen<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>deren<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>deren<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some examples:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VII. <a href=\"#WerWoWas\">The relative pronouns wer, wo &amp; was<\/a> [221 and above]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It sometimes happens that the <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> of the relative pronoun is an abstract concept or place, to which one cannot assign a gender, so that it becomes impossible to chose the appropriate form of der\/das\/die to use as the relative pronoun.&nbsp; When the gender of the antecedent cannot be determined, or when there is no antecedent, <i>wer<\/i>, <i>wo<\/i> and <i>was<\/i> are used as the relative pronouns.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><i>Wer <\/i><strong>never<\/strong> has an antecedent. It is used to mean <i>whoever<\/i>, <i>the person who<\/i>, or <i>he\/she who<\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Wer\u00a0<\/em>auf den Mond will, muss jetzt schon einen Sitz reservieren.<\/td><td><em>Whoever\u00a0<\/em>wants to go to the moon already has to reserve a seat now.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Wo\u00a0<\/em>means\u00a0<em>where,\u00a0<\/em>and is used when the antecedent is a place.\u00a0 If the place has a proper name and<strong>\u00a0no article<\/strong>\u00a0(Berlin, Disneyland, Deutschland, Kroger), you\u00a0<strong>must<\/strong>\u00a0use\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0to refer to it in a relative clause.\u00a0 If the place has an article (die Schweiz, die T\u00fcrkei, das Klassenzimmer), you can use\u00a0<em>wo\u00a0<\/em>or you can use\u00a0<em>in<\/em>\u00a0+ the appropriate form of\u00a0<em>der\/das\/die<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Bergisch Gladbach,\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0Heidi Klum geboren ist, ist keine sehr interessante Stadt.<\/td><td>Bergisch Gladbach, where Heidi Klum was born, is not a very interesting city.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Trotzdem kehrt sie nat\u00fcrlich gern in die Stadt zur\u00fcck,\u00a0<em>in der<\/em>\u00a0sie geboren ist.<br>Trotzdem kehrt sie nat\u00fcrlich gern in die Stadt zur\u00fcck,\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0sie geboren ist.<\/td><td>Nevertheless she of course likes to return to the city in which she was born.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>has three uses:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Without an antecedent<\/strong>, it is used to mean\u00a0<em>what<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0<em>whatever<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>Marlene Dietrich einmalig macht, ist ihre Stimme.<\/td><td><em>What\u00a0<\/em>makes Marlene Dietrich unique is her voice.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>is used to refer to\u00a0<strong>indefinite nouns or pronouns<\/strong>\u00a0such as\u00a0<em>alles, etwas, nichts, das Beste, das Sch\u00f6nste, das Neueste<\/em>.\u00a0 In these cases, the best translation is an optional\u00a0<em>that.<\/em>\u00a0It will be natural for you to remember to use\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0in these cases, since you will not be able to decide on a gender for words such as\u00a0<em>alles<\/em>, which will remind you that you cannot use\u00a0<em>der\/das\/die<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Horst m\u00f6chte alles kaufen,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dhm.de\/lemo\/html\/biografien\/DietrichMarlene\/\">Marlene Dietrich<\/a>\u00a0ber\u00fchrt hat.<\/td><td>Horst wants to buy everything\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich has touched.\u00a0 [alles ==&gt; was]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Aber<\/strong>: Alle Lieder,\u00a0<em>die<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich gesungen hat, sind wunderbar.<\/td><td><strong>But<\/strong>: All the songs\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich sang are wonderful. [alle Lieder ==&gt; die]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>may\u00a0<strong>refer back to a whole clause<\/strong>, in which case it can be translated as\u00a0<em>which,\u00a0<\/em>or<em>\u00a0which is something (that)<\/em>. Again, it will be natural for you to remember to use\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0in these cases, since you will not be able to decide on a gender for an entire clause, which will remind you that you cannot use\u00a0<em>der\/das\/die<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Jeden Morgen tritt Jack Nicholson meinen kleinen Hund,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0mich immer w\u00fctend macht.<\/td><td>Every morning, Jack Nicholson kicks my little dog,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>always makes me angry. [Here, the use of\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0means the relative clause refers to the\u00a0<strong>entire previous clause<\/strong>, i.e. I\u2019m mad that Jack Nicholson does this to my dog every day.]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jeden Morgen tritt Jack Nicholson meinen kleinen Hund,\u00a0<em>der<\/em>\u00a0mich immer w\u00fctend macht.<\/td><td>Every morning, Jack Nicholson kicks my little dog,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>always makes me angry. [Here, the use of\u00a0<em>der<\/em>\u00a0means the relative clause refers\u00a0<strong>specifically to my little dog<\/strong>, i.e. the dog makes me mad all the time, which suggests that I\u2019m probably glad that Jack Nicholson kicks it every day\u2013a big difference!]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When a preposition is combined with\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0(==&gt;<em>wohin, woher<\/em>) or<em>\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0used as described above, you must use a wo-compound.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Diana Ross m\u00f6chte wissen, ob du weisst,\u00a0<em>wohin\u00a0<\/em>du gehst.<\/td><td>Diana Ross wants to know if you\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eOil_ht0khI\">know\u00a0<em>where<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re going\u00a0<em>to<\/em><\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Es gibt nichts,\u00a0<em>wof\u00fcr<\/em>\u00a0Diana Ross sich nicht interessiert. [<em>f\u00fcr<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0<em>wof\u00fcr<\/em>]<\/td><td>There is nothing (<em>that<\/em>) Diana Ross is not interested\u00a0<em>in<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VIII. <a href=\"#Recognizing\">Recognizing relative clauses<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Work backwards from the above!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"uebungen\"><\/a>Practice Exercises<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/Nominativ1.htm\">In Hartmuts Zimmer<\/a> Very basic practice to help you get used to the forms that relative clauses take. All the relative pronouns in these examples are in the Nominative (3 items&#8211;use the &#8220;weiter&#8221; button to navigate between exercises)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/Wer_bin_ich1.htm\">Wer bin ich?<\/a> Practice Nominative, Accusative and Dative Relative Pronouns by filling in the blanks with the appropriate Relative Pronouns; then guess the person being described (7 items&#8211;use the &#8220;weiter&#8221; button to navigate between exercises)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/Prepositions1.htm\">Wer bin ich? (mit Pr\u00e4positionen)<\/a> Practice Relative Pronouns with (some) Prepositions by filling in the blanks with the appropriate Relative Pronouns; then guess the person being described (2 items&#8211;use the &#8220;weiter&#8221; button to navigate between exercises)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/potatoes\/blume.htm\">Professor Blume<\/a> Practice all aspects of relative pronouns with this exercise. All of the sentences have to do with animals and plants. Some of them are rather difficult, so don&#8217;t be discouraged if you find this unusually hard. <strong>You will get full explanatory feedback once you click on the right answer, so if you don&#8217;t succeed right away, keep trying<\/strong> \ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practice Exercises on Other Sites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.olafbohlke.com\/gpo\/grammatik\/gramrelativepronouns-u1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cumulative Practice<\/a> Created by Dr. Olaf B\u00f6hlke. Fill in the correct relative pronouns in a series of statements. Includes all four cases, relative pronouns with prepositions, and indefinite relative pronouns (wer\/wo\/was). Click on A, B, C at the top to see all 30 items. Note the instructions for seeing feedback for each item; you may need to enter an intentionally incorrect response (e.g. <em>das<\/em> instead of <em>der<\/em>) to understand how the feedback works. Click on T\/Tipp to see hints!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanations and Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Introduction\"><\/a>I. Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Relative clauses supply additional information about the nouns in a sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some examples of simple sentences without any relative clauses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Kelly spricht mit einem jungen Mann.<\/td><td>Kelly is talking to a young man.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Der junge Mann ist nerv\u00f6s.<\/td><td>The young man is nervous.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Er gibt Kelly sein Deutschbuch.<\/td><td>He gives Kelly his German textbook.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Im Sommer fliegen sie nach Berlin.<\/td><td>In the summer, they fly to Berlin.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the same sentences with relative clauses (<strong>in bold print<\/strong>) added to provide more information about some of the nouns, which, in this case, helps you see just how romantic the above scenario could be&#8230;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Kelly spricht mit einem jungen Mann,\u00a0<strong>den sie sehr attraktiv findet<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Kelly is talking to a young man,\u00a0<strong>whom she finds very attractive<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Der junge Mann,\u00a0<strong>der jede Nacht von Kelly tr\u00e4umt<\/strong>, ist nerv\u00f6s.<\/td><td>The young man,\u00a0<strong>who dreams of Kelly every nigh<\/strong>t, is nervous.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Er gibt Kelly sein Deutschbuch,\u00a0<strong>in dem er auf jede Seite ein Liebesgedicht an sie geschrieben hat<\/strong>.<\/td><td>He gives Kelly his German textbook,\u00a0<strong>in which he has written a love poem to her on every page<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Im Sommer fliegen sie nach Berlin,\u00a0<strong>wo sie heiraten<\/strong>.<\/td><td>In the summer, they fly to Berlin,\u00a0<strong>where they marry<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Contrastive\"><\/a>Contrastive grammar<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">English distinguishes between relative pronouns referring to people (<i>who<\/i> and <i>whom<\/i>) and relative pronouns referring to things or concepts (<i>that<\/i> or <i>which<\/i>).&nbsp; In German, the relative pronoun for people <strong>and<\/strong> things will be a form of der\/das\/die ==&gt; do not use <i>wer<\/i> (or <i>wen <\/i>or <i>wem<\/i>) to translate English <i>who<\/i> or <i>whom<\/i>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der Mann,\u00a0<strong>der<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly liebt.<br><s>Da ist der Mann,\u00a0<strong>wer<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly liebt.<\/s><\/td><td>There is the man who loves Kelly.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Da ist der Mann,\u00a0<strong>den<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly liebt.<br><s>Da ist der Mann,\u00a0<strong>wen<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly liebt.<\/s><\/td><td>There is the man whom Kelly loves.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, relative pronouns may sometimes be omitted in English, but they cannot be omitted in German:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der Mann,\u00a0<strong>den<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly liebt.<br><s>Da ist der Mann Kelly liebt.<\/s><\/td><td>There is the man Kelly loves.<br>There is the man whom Kelly loves.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Er tr\u00e4gt den Ring,\u00a0<strong>den<\/strong>\u00a0sie ihm gegeben hat.<br><s>Er tr\u00e4gt den Ring sie ihm gegeben hat.<\/s><\/td><td>He is wearing the ring she gave him.<br>He is wearing the ring which she gave him.<br>He is wearing the ring that she gave him.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"antecedent\"><\/a>Terminology: &#8220;antecedent&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The term &#8220;antecedent&#8221; is used to refer to the noun being referred to by a relative pronoun.&nbsp; Thus in the most recent example,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist der\u00a0<em>Mann<\/em>,\u00a0<strong><em>den<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Kelly liebt.<\/td><td>The antecedent of\u00a0<strong><em>den<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>is\u00a0<em>Mann<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Er tr\u00e4gt den\u00a0<em>Ring<\/em>,\u00a0<strong><em>den<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0sie ihm gegeben hat.<\/td><td>The antecedent of\u00a0<strong><em>den<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>is\u00a0<em>Ring<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What you need to know:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#Whereclause\">Where to position the relative clauses in the sentence<\/a> (very easy!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#Whereverb\">Where to position the verb in the relative clause<\/a> (very easy: the verb always comes at the end of the relative clause)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to choose the correct relative pronoun.&nbsp; This will be the subject of the bulk of this module, beginning with the section on <a href=\"#Nominative\">Nominative, Accusative and Dative Relative Pronouns<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you are reading or hearing German, you are also going to need to be able to go backwards, i.e. to interpret relative clauses by<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#Recognizing\">recognizing them<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>identifying the <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> of the relative pronoun (i.e. the noun which the relative clause is describing)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This will be discussed at more length at the end of this explanation, but is something students are often able to do automatically, even before having &#8220;officially&#8221; studied relative clauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">II. <a id=\"Whereclause\"><\/a>Where to position the relative clauses in the sentence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is easy: the <strong>relative clause always comes right after the noun it is describing<\/strong>.&nbsp; Here are some examples. In each case, the relative clause is in <strong>bold<\/strong> print, and the noun or noun phrase it is describing is in <em>italics<\/em>. Note also that <strong>the relative clause is set off from the main clause by commas<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Vier Studenten<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>die nicht sehr gesund aussehen<\/strong>, sitzen in der Mensa und essen.<\/td><td><em>Four students<\/em>\u00a0<strong>who don\u2019t look very healthy<\/strong>\u00a0are sitting in the cafeteria and eating.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Stefan trinkt viel zu viel\u00a0<em>Kaffee<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>der seinen Magen zerst\u00f6ren wird<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Stefan is drinking much too much\u00a0<em>coffee<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>which will destroy his stomach<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><em>Silke<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>die nie Sport treibt<\/strong>, isst 5 Bratw\u00fcrste mit Sauerkraut, Fritten und Mayonnaise.<\/td><td><em>Silke<\/em>,<strong>\u00a0who never exercises<\/strong>, is eating 5 bratwursts with sauerkraut, fries and mayonnaise.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Anstatt zu essen raucht Annette\u00a0<em>Zigaretten<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>von denen sie hohen Blutdruck bekommt<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Instead of eating, Annette smokes\u00a0<em>cigarettes<\/em>,<strong>\u00a0from which she is getting high blood pressure<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Torsten isst\u00a0<em>ein Brot mit Butter und Nutella<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>das er von zu Hause mitgebracht hat<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Torsten is eating\u00a0<em>a piece of bread with butter and Nutella<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>which he has brought along from home<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the last example, note that the relative pronoun refers grammatically to the first noun (&#8220;Brot&#8221;) in the noun phrase (&#8220;ein Brot mit Butter und Nutella&#8221;) &#8211; this is why the relative pronoun is <strong>das <\/strong>(as in &#8220;das Brot&#8221;) and not <strong>die <\/strong>(as in &#8220;die Butter\/die Nutella&#8221;). This will happen when the relative clause refers to a noun phrase containing more than one noun. You will most likely get such sentences right by instinct ==&gt; please don&#8217;t let this detail worry you too much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Dangling\"><\/a>A minor exception: &#8220;dangling verbs&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is one exception to the above rule: if placing the relative clause right after &#8220;its&#8221; noun in this way would leave the verb in the main clause dangling at the end of the sentence by itself, the resulting sentence would be awkward to comprehend. In such cases, the verb is usually moved in front of the relative clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some examples of sentences that would leave a verb dangling by itself in this awkward way if the relative clause were placed right after its <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Letztes Jahr haben Stefan, Silke, Annette und Torsten ein Huhn,\u00a0<strong>das f\u00fcnf Tage auf dem K\u00fcchentisch gelegen hatte,\u00a0<em>gegessen<\/em><\/strong>.<\/td><td>Last year, Stefan, Silke, Annette and Torsten ate a chicken\u00a0<strong>which had lain on the kitchen table for five days<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie werden nie die Woche,\u00a0<strong>die sie danach krank im Bett verbracht haben<\/strong>,\u00a0<em>vergessen<\/em>.<\/td><td>They will never forget the week [which]\u00a0<strong>they spent sick in bed after that<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The verb is thus moved in front of the relative clause as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Letztes Jahr haben Stefan, Silke, Anette und Torsten ein Huhn\u00a0<em>gegessen<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>das f\u00fcnf Tage auf dem K\u00fcchentisch gelegen hatte<\/strong>.<\/td><td>Last year, Stefan, Silke, Anette and Torsten ate a chicken\u00a0<strong>which had lain on the kitchen table for five days<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie werden nie die Woche\u00a0<em>vergessen<\/em>,\u00a0<strong>die sie danach krank im Bett verbracht haben<\/strong>.<\/td><td>They will never forget the week [which]\u00a0<strong>they spent sick in bed after that<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">III. Where to position the verb in the relative clause<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is easy also: relative clauses are subordinate clauses (eventually, you will be able to click here for more information&#8230;). Consequently, the conjugated verb comes at the end of the relative clause. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a> for some more details on this.&nbsp; The previous examples are printed again below, this time with the verb at the end of the relative clause in italics.&nbsp; Note that where the verb is in two parts, the conjugated verb comes after the &#8220;generic&#8221; one [infinitives or past participles are &#8220;generic&#8221; in the sense that they are not conjugated to agree with the subject of the action]:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Vier Studenten,\u00a0<strong>die nicht sehr gesund\u00a0<em>aussehen<\/em><\/strong>, sitzen in der Mensa und essen.<\/td><td>Four students\u00a0<strong>who don\u2019t look very healthy<\/strong>\u00a0are sitting in the cafeteria and eating.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Stefan trinkt viel zu viel Kaffee,\u00a0<strong>der seinen Magen\u00a0<em>zerst\u00f6ren wird<\/em><\/strong>.<\/td><td>Stefan is drinking much too much coffee,\u00a0<strong>which will destroy his stomach<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Silke,\u00a0<strong>die nie Sport\u00a0<em>treibt<\/em><\/strong>, isst 5 Bratw\u00fcrste mit Sauerkraut, Fritten und Mayonnaise.<\/td><td>Silke,\u00a0<strong>who never exercises<\/strong>, is eating 5 bratwursts with sauerkraut, fries and mayonnaise.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Anstatt zu essen raucht Annette Zigaretten,\u00a0<strong>von denen sie hohen Blutdruck\u00a0<em>bekommt<\/em><\/strong>.<\/td><td>Instead of eating, Annette smokes cigarettes,\u00a0<strong>from which she is getting high blood pressure<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Torsten isst ein Brot mit Butter und Nutella,\u00a0<strong>das er von zu Hause\u00a0<em>mitgebracht hat<\/em><\/strong>.<\/td><td>Torsten is eating a piece of bread with butter and Nutella,\u00a0<strong>which he has brought along from home<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">IV. <a id=\"Nominative\"><\/a>Nominative, Accusative and Dative Relative Pronouns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned in the <a href=\"#Introduction\">Introduction<\/a>, Nominative, Accusative and Dative relative pronouns are normally forms of <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>, regardless of whether they refer to a person or a thing.&nbsp; These differ from the forms of <i>der\/das\/die <\/i>which you have already learned <strong>only in the dative plural<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td>Masculine<\/td><td>Neuter<\/td><td>Feminine<\/td><td>Plural<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nominative<\/td><td>der<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accusative<\/td><td>den<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dative<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>der<\/td><td><strong>denen<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"gendercase\"><\/a>The gender of the relative pronoun is the same as the gender of its <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> (the noun to which it is referring). The case of the relative pronoun (Nominative, Accusative, Dative or Genitive) depends on its grammatical function in the relative clause. It does <strong>not<\/strong> depend on the grammatical function of the antecedent in the main clause. To make this clear, here is an example of how an <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> in the nominative case (<i>der Laden<\/i>) can be referred to by a relative pronoun in the nominative, accusative or dative case:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,\u00a0<em>der<\/em>\u00a0(Nom.) die besten Gummib\u00e4rchen verkauft.<\/td><td>That is the store\u00a0<em>that<\/em>\u00a0sells the best gummi-bears.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,\u00a0<em>den<\/em>\u00a0(Acc.) ich liebe.<\/td><td>That is the store (<em>that<\/em>) I love.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das ist der Laden,\u00a0<em>dem<\/em>\u00a0(Dat.) ich \u20ac20.000 schulde.<\/td><td>That is the store\u00a0<em>to which<\/em>\u00a0I owe \u20ac20,000.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first case, the store is the subject of the action in the relative clause (it sells the gummi-bears), and hence is referred to by a relative pronoun in the nominative (<i>der<\/i>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the second case, the store is the direct object of my love (I love it), and so is referred to by a relative pronoun in the accusative (<i>den<\/i>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the third case, the store is the object of the dative verb &#8220;schulden&#8221; (to owe), and so is referred to by a relative pronoun in the dative case (<i>dem<\/i>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Structured1\"><\/a>Structured Practice (Action Mazes)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/Quandary\/zimmer.htm\">Hartmuts Zimmer<\/a> This is an &#8220;action maze&#8221; designed to take you step by step through the tasks involved in choosing a relative pronoun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/Quandary\/zimmer2.htm\">Hartmuts Zimmer 2<\/a> More practice of the same sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">V. <a id=\"Prepositions\"><\/a>Relative pronouns with prepositions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/prepositions\/\">here<\/a> if you need to review prepositions in general!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The preposition always precedes the relative pronoun<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In German, prepositions are inseparable from the nouns or pronouns they bring into a sentence. This applies also in relative clauses. Since they are <i>pre<\/i>positions, they will always come in front of the relative pronoun they are associated with. They will also determine the case of the relative pronoun; this will be discussed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Da ist Frau M\u00fcller,\u00a0<em>mit der<\/em>\u00a0ich jeden Tag Kaffee trinke.<\/td><td>There is Frau M\u00fcller,\u00a0<em>with whom<\/em>\u00a0I have coffee every day.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie spricht mit Herrn Schmitz,\u00a0<em>von dem<\/em>\u00a0ich C++ gelernt habe.<\/td><td>She is talking to Mr. Schmitz,\u00a0<em>from whom<\/em>\u00a0I learned C++.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie sitzen auf dem Tisch,\u00a0<em>an dem<\/em>\u00a0ich normalerweise arbeite.<\/td><td>They are sitting on the table,\u00a0<em>at which<\/em>\u00a0I normally work.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie hinterlassen immer hinternf\u00f6rmige Flecken auf meinem Schreibtisch,\u00a0<em>\u00fcber die<\/em>\u00a0meine Kollegen und ich gern lachen.<\/td><td>They always leave behind butt-shaped stains on my desk,\u00a0<em>about which<\/em>\u00a0my colleagues and I like to laugh.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In English, one needs to be reminded by one&#8217;s teacher to keep the preposition in front of the relative pronoun; in informal speaking, one is much more likely to hear the above sentences as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>There is Frau M\u00fcller,\u00a0<em>whom<\/em>\u00a0I have coffee\u00a0<em>with\u00a0<\/em>every day. She is talking to Mr. Schmitz,\u00a0<em>whom\u00a0<\/em>I learned C++\u00a0<em>from.\u00a0<\/em>They are sitting on the table,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>I normally work<em>\u00a0at<\/em>.<br><br>They always leave behind butt-shaped stains on my desk,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>my colleagues and I like to laugh\u00a0<em>about.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In German, it would be unthinkable to separate the preposition<br>from its relative pronoun in this way: you will never hear anyone<br>do this in speaking or writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a> for a barely relevant and slightly rude joke on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The preposition determines the case of &#8220;its&#8221; relative pronoun<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following an <strong>accusative preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be accusative, following a <strong>dative preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be dative, following a <strong>genitive preposition<\/strong>, the relative pronoun will be genitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,\u00a0<em>ohne die<\/em>\u00a0man diese Webseite nicht lesen k\u00f6nnte.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine\u00a0<em>without which<\/em>\u00a0one could not read this webpage.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,\u00a0<em>f\u00fcr die<\/em>\u00a0man viel Geld bezahlen mu\u00df.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine\u00a0<em>for which<\/em>\u00a0one has to pay a lot of money.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,\u00a0<em>mit der<\/em>\u00a0man Aufs\u00e4tze schreiben kann.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine\u00a0<em>with which<\/em>\u00a0one can write essays.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Computer ist eine Maschine,\u00a0<em>deren<\/em>\u00a0Funktionsweise ich nie verstehen werde.<\/td><td>A computer is a machine whose functioning I will never understand.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first two cases, <i>ohne<\/i> and <i>f\u00fcr <\/i>are accusative prepositions and are thus followed by a relative pronoun in the accusative (die).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the third case, <i>mit<\/i> is a dative preposition and is thus followed by a relative pronoun in the dative (der).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the fourth case, <i>trotz<\/i> is a genitive preposition and is thus followed by a relative pronoun in the genitive (deren).&nbsp; Genitive relative pronouns are discussed in more detail in the <a href=\"#Genitive\">next section<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following a <strong>two-way preposition<\/strong> the relative pronoun will be accusative if the action in the relative clause involves motion, and dative if the relative clause is describing the location where the action is taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Ein Klassenzimmer ist ein Zimmer,\u00a0<em>in dem<\/em>\u00a0man Deutsch lernen kann.<\/td><td>A classroom is a room\u00a0<em>in which<\/em>\u00a0one can learn German.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Klassenzimmer ist ein Zimmer,\u00a0<em>in das\u00a0<\/em>Franz\u00f6sischstudenten nicht gern gehen.<\/td><td>A classroom is a room\u00a0<em>into which<\/em>\u00a0French students don\u2019t like to go.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Eine Landkarte ist ein Bild,\u00a0<em>auf dem<\/em>\u00a0man Deutschland sehen kann.<\/td><td>A map is a picture\u00a0<em>on which<\/em>\u00a0one can see Germany.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ein Franz\u00f6sischbuch ist ein Buch,\u00a0<em>auf das<\/em>\u00a0man sich setzen kann.<\/td><td>A French book is a book\u00a0<em>(which)<\/em>\u00a0one can sit down\u00a0<em>on<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das Franz\u00f6sischbuch ist das Buch,\u00a0<em>auf dem<\/em>\u00a0wir sitzen.<\/td><td>The French book is the book\u00a0<em>(which)<\/em>\u00a0we are sitting\u00a0<em>on<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the first case, the classroom is the location in which learning German can take place ==&gt; dative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the second case, the relative clause is about motion into the classroom ==&gt; accusative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the third case, the map is the location where one can see Germany ==&gt; dative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the fourth case, the relative clause is about the motion of sitting down on a French book ==&gt; accusative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the fifth case, the French book is the location where we are seated ==&gt; dative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the two-way preposition is not describing motion\/location but rather is part of a <strong>verb + preposition combination<\/strong> (as in &#8220;sprechen \u00fcber&#8221; or &#8220;warten auf&#8221;), you need to know whether that particular preposition + verb combination is associated with accusative or dative.&nbsp; If in doubt about this, your best guess is to choose the accusative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>1. Jeff schreibt eine Pr\u00fcfung \u00fcber Relativs\u00e4tze,\u00a0<em>vor denen<\/em>\u00a0er keine Angst mehr hat.<\/td><td>Jeff is taking an exam about relative clauses,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>he\u2019s no longer afraid\u00a0<em>of<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2. Er hat diese Webseite gelesen,\u00a0<em>an die<\/em>\u00a0ihn seine Lehrerin erinnert hat.<\/td><td>He read this webpage,\u00a0<em>which<\/em>\u00a0his teacher reminded him\u00a0<em>of<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3. Die Fragen,\u00a0<em>auf die<\/em>\u00a0er problemlos antworten kann, machen ihm Spa\u00df.<\/td><td>The questions,\u00a0<em>(which)<\/em>\u00a0he can answer without a problem [<em>to which<\/em>\u00a0he can give answers without a problem], are fun for him.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4. Die Webseite hat Hartmut,\u00a0<em>auf den<\/em>\u00a0Jeff nach der Pr\u00fcfung ein alkoholfreies Bier trinken wird, fantastisch gemacht.<\/td><td>Hartmut,\u00a0<em>to whom<\/em>\u00a0Jeff will drink a non-alcoholic beer after the test, has done a fantastic job with this webpage.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Angst haben vor + Dative = to be afraid of<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>erinnern an + Accusative = to remind (someone) of (something)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>antworten auf + Accusative = to answer (a question) [the preposition &#8220;auf&#8221; will always refer to the question being answered; the person being answered is referred to in the dative without a preposition: Sie antwortet dem Lehrer auf die Frage]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>trinken auf + Accusative = to drink to (someone or something)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The combination &#8220;preposition + relative pronoun&#8221; may sometimes be replaced by a wo-compound.&nbsp; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a>&nbsp;for more information<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Structured2\"><\/a>Structured Practice (Action Mazes)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/Quandary\/photos.htm\">Hartmuts Photos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VI. <a id=\"Genitive\"><\/a>Genitive Relative Pronouns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The genitive relative pronouns mean &#8220;whose&#8221; and work slightly differently: once you know you are trying to say &#8220;whose,&#8221; you choose the correct genitive relative pronoun only according to the gender of its <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a>: <strong>dessen<\/strong> for<strong> masculine and neuter<\/strong> antecedents; <strong>deren<\/strong> for<strong> feminine<\/strong><br><strong>and plural antecedents<\/strong>.&nbsp; The complete table of relative pronouns is thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td>Masculine<\/td><td>Neuter<\/td><td>Feminine<\/td><td>Plural<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nominative<\/td><td>der<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accusative<\/td><td>den<\/td><td>das<\/td><td>die<\/td><td>die<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dative<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>dem<\/td><td>der<\/td><td><strong>denen<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Genitive<\/td><td><strong>dessen<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>dessen<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>deren<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>deren<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Michael Fassbender,\u00a0<em>dessen<\/em>\u00a0Mutter aus Irland kommt, wurde in Heidelberg geboren.<\/td><td>Michael Fassbender,\u00a0<em>whose<\/em>\u00a0mother is Irish, was born in Heidelberg.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Michael Fassbender,\u00a0<em>dessen<\/em>\u00a0magnetische Pers\u00f6nlichkeit ich gerne h\u00e4tte, spielte in drei\u00a0<em>X-Men<\/em>\u00a0Filmen Magneto.<\/td><td>Barbra Streisand,\u00a0<em>whose<\/em>\u00a0magnetic personality I would like to have, played Magneto in three\u00a0<em>X-Men<\/em>\u00a0movies.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ich bewundere Oprah Winfrey,\u00a0<em>deren<\/em>\u00a0inspirierende Interviews vielen Menschen geholfen haben.<\/td><td>I admire Oprah Winfrey,\u00a0<em>whose<\/em>\u00a0inspiring interviews have helped many people.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ich bewundere Oprah Winfrey,\u00a0<em>deren<\/em>\u00a0B\u00fccher ich alle lesen m\u00f6chte.<\/td><td>I admire Oprah Winfrey, all of\u00a0<em>whose<\/em>\u00a0books I would like to read.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ich bewundere Oprah Winfrey, durch\u00a0<em>deren<\/em>\u00a0Buchclub ich viele interessante B\u00fccher entdeckt habe.<\/td><td>I admire Oprah Winfrey, through\u00a0<em>whose<\/em>\u00a0book clubs I discovered many interesting books.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the first two cases, the antecedent of <i>whose<\/i> is Michael Fassbender ==&gt; use <i>dessen<\/i>, since he is masculine. It does not change anything that in the first example (dessen Mutter&#8230;), Mutter is feminine and in the second example (dessen magnetische Pers\u00f6nlichkeit&#8230;), Pers\u00f6nlichkeit is feminine: the relative pronoun will be <i>dessen<\/i> so long as the antecedent is masculine or neuter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the third and fourth cases, the antecedent of <i>whose <\/i>is Oprah Winfrey ==&gt; use <i>deren<\/i>, since she is feminine.&nbsp; It does not change anything that in the relative clause, her interviews are the subject (they helped many people) in the third example, and her books are the object (I would like to read them all) in the fourth example: the relative pronoun will be <i>deren <\/i>so long as the antecedent is feminine or plural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the fifth case, the antecedent of <i>whose <\/i>is again Oprah Winfrey==&gt; again use <i>deren<\/i>.&nbsp; Note that in this case, the genitive relative pronoun is preceded by an accusative preposition <i>(durch)<\/i>, but this does not change the fact that you will use <i>deren <\/i>as the relative pronoun. [It does mean, however, that the noun <i>Buchclub <\/i>is in the accusative.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">==&gt; Genitive relative pronouns are actually much simpler than the others in the sense that, once you have realized that you want to say &#8220;whose,&#8221; all you have to do to pick the correct relative pronoun is to figure out the correct gender of the antecedent, in order to choose between <i>dessen <\/i>and <i>deren<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Structured3\"><\/a>Structured Practice (Action Mazes)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsa.umich.edu\/german\/hmr\/Grammatik\/Relativsaetze\/Quandary\/starwars.htm\">Star Wars<\/a> This is an action maze designed to take you step by step through the process of choosing a relative pronoun that may be combined with a preposition and\/or that may be in the<br>genitive case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VII. <a id=\"WerWoWas\"><\/a>The relative pronouns wer, wo &amp; was<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before reading on, you should review the information in the <a href=\"#Contrastive\">first section<\/a> regarding the fact that the relative pronoun is normally a form of der\/das\/die, even if it refers to a person. This section describes the exceptions to that rule, all of which have one thing in common: it sometimes happens that the <a href=\"#antecedent\">antecedent<\/a> of the relative pronoun is an abstract concept or place, to which one cannot assign a gender, so that it becomes impossible to chose the appropriate form of der\/das\/die to use as the relative pronoun.&nbsp; When the gender of the antecedent cannot be determined,<br>or when there is no antecedent, <i>wer<\/i>, <i>wo<\/i> and <i>was <\/i>are used as the relative pronouns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Wer\"><\/a>Wer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Wer <\/i><strong>never<\/strong> has an antecedent. It is used to mean <i>whoever, the person who, <\/i>or <i>he\/she who<\/i> in sentences such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Wer\u00a0<\/em>auf den Mond will, muss jetzt schon einen Sitz reservieren.<\/td><td><em>Whoever\u00a0<\/em>wants to go to the moon already has to reserve a seat now.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ich wei\u00df nicht, mit\u00a0<em>wem<\/em>\u00a0ich auf den Mond fliegen m\u00f6chte.<\/td><td>I don\u2019t know\u00a0<em>who<\/em>\u00a0I would like to fly to the moon with.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Note that in each case, there is no antecedent for <i>wer<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Wo\"><\/a>Wo<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Wo <\/i>means <i>where, <\/i>and is used when the antecedent is a place. If the place has a proper name and <strong>no article<\/strong> (Berlin, Disneyland, Deutschland, Kroger), you <strong>must<\/strong> use <i>wo <\/i>to refer to it in a relative clause.&nbsp; If the place has an article (die Schweiz, die T\u00fcrkei, das Klassenzimmer), you can use <i>wo<\/i> or you can use <i>in<\/i> + the appropriate form of <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Bergisch Gladbach,\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0Heidi Klum geboren ist, ist keine sehr interessante Stadt.<\/td><td>Bergisch Gladbach,\u00a0<em>where<\/em>\u00a0Heidi Klum was born, is not a very interesting city.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Trotzdem kehrt sie nat\u00fcrlich gern in die Stadt zur\u00fcck,\u00a0<em>in der<\/em>\u00a0sie geboren ist. Trotzdem kehrt sie nat\u00fcrlich gern in die Stadt zur\u00fcck,\u00a0<em>wo<\/em>\u00a0sie geboren ist.<\/td><td>Nevertheless she of course likes to return to the city\u00a0<em>where\/in which<\/em>\u00a0she was born.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a> for information on some other uses of wo in colloquial speech, especially in Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Was<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Was <\/i>has three uses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"Was1\"><\/a>(i) <strong>Without an antecedent<\/strong>, it is used to mean <i>what <\/i>or <i>whatever<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>Marlene Dietrich einmalig macht, ist ihre Stimme.<\/td><td><em>What\u00a0<\/em>makes Marlene Dietrich unique is her voice.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><em>Was\u00a0<\/em>ich nicht wei\u00df, macht mich nicht hei\u00df.<\/td><td><em>What\u00a0<\/em>I don\u2019t know won\u2019t bother me.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Was Augen hat, essen intelligente Menschen nicht.<\/td><td><em>What<\/em>\u00a0has eyes, intelligent people don\u2019t eat. [i.e. Intelligent people won\u2019t eat anything that has eyes]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"Was2\"><\/a>(ii) <i>Was <\/i>is used to refer to <strong>indefinite nouns or pronouns<\/strong> such as <i>alles, etwas, nichts, das Beste, das Sch\u00f6nste, das Neueste<\/i>. In these cases, the best translation is an optional <i>that. <\/i>It will be natural for you to remember to use <i>was <\/i>in these cases, since you will not be able to decide on a gender for words such as <i>alles<\/i>, which will remind you that you cannot use <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Horst m\u00f6chte alles kaufen,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dhm.de\/lemo\/html\/biografien\/DietrichMarlene\/\">Marlene Dietrich<\/a>\u00a0ber\u00fchrt hat.<\/td><td>Horst wants to buy everything\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich has touched.\u00a0 [alles ==&gt; was]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Aber<\/strong>: Alle Lieder,\u00a0<em>die<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich gesungen hat, sind wunderbar.<\/td><td><strong>But<\/strong>: All the songs\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich sang are wonderful. [alle Lieder ==&gt; die]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Das Beste,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0man tun kann, ist sein Leben Marlene Dietrich zu widmen.<\/td><td>The best thing (<em>that<\/em>) one can do is to dedicate one\u2019s life to Marlene Dietrich. [das Beste ==&gt; was]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Aber<\/strong>: Das beste Lied,\u00a0<em>das<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich gesungen hat, ist \u201cIch bin von Kopf bis Fu\u00df auf Liebe eingestellt.\u201d<\/td><td><strong>But<\/strong>: The best song\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0Marlene Dietrich sang was \u201cIch bin von Kopf bis Fu\u00df auf Liebe eingestellt.\u201d [das beste Lied ==&gt; das]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nichts,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0die Nazis ihr angeboten haben, konnte Marlene Dietrich dazu bringen, einen Film in Nazi-Deutschland zu drehen.<\/td><td>Nothing\u00a0<em>(that)<\/em>\u00a0the Nazis offered her could bring Marlene Dietrich to make a movie in Nazi Germany. [nichts ==&gt; was]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"Was3\"><\/a>(iii) Finally, <i>was <\/i>may <strong>refer back to a whole clause<\/strong>, in which case it can be translated as <i>which, <\/i>or <i>which is something (that)<\/i>. Again, it will be natural for you to remember to use <i>was <\/i>in these cases, since you will not be able to decide on a gender for an entire clause, which will remind you that you cannot use <i>der\/das\/die<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Wenige Leute in Amerika kennen Marlene Dietrich,\u00a0<em>was\u00a0<\/em>ich nicht verstehen kann.<\/td><td>Few people in America know Marlene Dietrich,\u00a0<em>which is something<\/em>\u00a0I cannot understand.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sie werden keinen Genus f\u00fcr einen ganzen Satz w\u00e4hlen k\u00f6nnen,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0Sie daran erinnern wird, \u201cwas\u201d zu benutzen.<\/td><td>You will not be able to choose a gender for an entire clause,\u00a0<em>which<\/em>\u00a0will remind you to use \u201cwas.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jeden Morgen tritt Jack Nicholson meinen kleinen Hund,\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0mich immer w\u00fctend macht.<\/td><td>Every morning, Jack Nicholson kicks my little dog,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>always makes me angry. [Here, the use of\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0means the relative clause refers to the\u00a0<strong>entire previous clause<\/strong>, i.e. I\u2019m mad that Jack Nicholson does this to my dog every day.]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jeden Morgen tritt Jack Nicholson meinen kleinen Hund,\u00a0<em>der<\/em>\u00a0mich immer w\u00fctend macht.<\/td><td>Every morning, Jack Nicholson kicks my little dog,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>always makes me angry. [Here, the use of\u00a0<em>der<\/em>\u00a0means the relative clause refers\u00a0<strong>specifically to my little dog<\/strong>, i.e. the dog makes me mad all the time, which suggests that I may be glad that Jack Nicholson kicks it every day\u2013a big difference!]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"WoCompounds\"><\/a>Wo-Compounds<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wo-compounds <strong>must<\/strong> be used when a preposition is combined with <i>wo <\/i>(==&gt;<i>wohin, woher<\/i>) or<i> was<\/i> used as described above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Diana Ross m\u00f6chte wissen, ob du weisst,\u00a0<em>wohin\u00a0<\/em>du gehst.<\/td><td>Diana Ross wants to know if you\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eOil_ht0khI\">know\u00a0<em>where<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re going\u00a0<em>to<\/em><\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Es gibt nichts,\u00a0<em>wof\u00fcr<\/em>\u00a0Diana Ross sich nicht interessiert. [<em>f\u00fcr<\/em>\u00a0+\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0<em>wof\u00fcr<\/em>]<\/td><td>There is nothing (<em>that<\/em>) Diana Ross is not interested\u00a0<em>in<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ich gehe nach Prag,\u00a0<em>woher<\/em>\u00a0der Schriftsteller Franz Kafka, der Dichter Rainer Maria Rilke, der Schriftsteller und Politiker Vaclav Havel, und Madeleine Albright kommen.<\/td><td>I\u2019m going to Prague,\u00a0<em>where<\/em>\u00a0the author Franz Kafka, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the author and politician Vaclav Havel, and Madeleine Albright also come\u00a0<em>from<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dort werde ich Kafkas\u00a0 Geburtshaus sehen,\u00a0<em>worauf<\/em>\u00a0ich mich sehr freue. [<em>auf + was<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0<em>worauf<\/em>]<\/td><td>There, I will see the house in which Kafka was born,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>I\u2019m really looking forward\u00a0<em>to<\/em>. [By using\u00a0<em>worauf<\/em>, i.e.\u00a0<em>auf + was<\/em>, the relative clause refers to the entire previous clause: what I\u2019m looking forward to is\u00a0<em>seeing<\/em>\u00a0the house Kafka was born in.]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dort werde ich Kafkas Geburtshaus sehen,\u00a0<em>auf das<\/em>\u00a0ich mich sehr freue.<\/td><td>There, I will see the house in which Kafka was born,\u00a0<em>which\u00a0<\/em>I\u2019m really looking forward\u00a0<em>to<\/em>. [By using\u00a0<em>auf das<\/em>, the relative clause refers specifically to Kafka\u2019s birth house: what I\u2019m looking forward to is\u00a0<em>the house<\/em>\u00a0Kafka was born in.]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Danach werde ich hoffentlich vieles,\u00a0<em>wor\u00fcber<\/em>\u00a0Kafka in seinem Tagebuch geschrieben hat, besser verstehen. [<em>\u00fcber + was<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0<em>wor\u00fcber<\/em>;\u00a0<em>was\u00a0<\/em>refers to\u00a0<em>vieles<\/em>]<\/td><td>After that I will hopefully understand better many of the things\u00a0<em>(which)<\/em>\u00a0Kafka wrote\u00a0<em>about<\/em>\u00a0in his diary.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">Click here for more examples.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wo-compounds may also be substituted for <i>preposition + der\/das\/die <\/i><strong>when the antecedent is not human<\/strong>, but this is almost always optional.&nbsp; We will want you to be able to understand this when you see it, but will not expect you to do it yourself unless you want to.&nbsp; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.german.lsa.umich.edu\/grammatik\/morerelative\/\">here<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"Recognizing\"><\/a>Recognizing relative clauses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To do this, just work backwards from your knowledge of relative clauses.&nbsp; Knowing that a clause is a relative clause is very helpful in understanding a sentence in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You will know that the relative clause (normally) describes the noun just preceding it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can first ignore the relative clause and figure out what the main clause means, and then go back and figure out what the relative clause is telling you about the noun just preceding it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the keys to recognizing relative clauses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Relative clauses follow the noun they are describing, and are set off from the main clause by commas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As you will have seen in the examples above, relative clauses are often at the end of a sentence, but they can also just as well come right in the middle of a main clause. The relative clause provides information about the noun it refers to, and then the main clause continues.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A relative clause contains at least a subject and a verb (which will always be at the end of the clause).&nbsp; This distinguishes it from an apposition, which does not contain a verb.&nbsp; The distinction is not crucial for comprehension purposes, as both relative clauses and appositions serve<br>the same basic purpose of describing the noun just preceding them, but here are some examples:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Steffi Graf,\u00a0<em>die eine fantastische Tennisspielerin war<\/em>, ist jetzt Andre Agassis Frau. [<em>die eine fantastische Tennisspielerin war<\/em>\u00a0contains a verb (war) and is a relative clause]<\/td><td>Steffi Graf,\u00a0<em>who was a fantastic tennis player<\/em>, is now Andre Agassi\u2019s wife.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Steffi Graf,\u00a0<em>die fantastische Tennisspielerin<\/em>, ist jetzt Andre Agassis Frau. [<em>die fantastische Tennisspielerin<\/em>\u00a0does not contain a verb and is an apposition]<\/td><td>Steffi Graf,\u00a0<em>the fantastic tennis player<\/em>, is now Andre Agassi\u2019s wife.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Boris Becker,\u00a0<em>der viele Tennisturniere gewonnen hat<\/em>, spielt auch kein Profitennis mehr. [<em>der viele Tennisturniere gewonnen hat<\/em>\u00a0contains a verb (gewonnen hat) and is a relative clause]<\/td><td>Boris Becker,\u00a0<em>who has won many tennis tournaments<\/em>, also no longer plays pro tennis.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Boris Becker,\u00a0<em>der erfolgreiche Tennisspieler<\/em>, spielt auch kein Profitennis mehr. [<em>der erfolgreiche Tennisspieler<\/em>\u00a0does not contain a verb and is an apposition]<\/td><td>Boris Becker,\u00a0<em>the successful tennis player<\/em>, also no longer plays pro tennis.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A clause beginning with a form of der\/das\/die not immediately followed by a noun [or with a preposition + a form of der\/das\/die not immediately followed by a noun], and ending with a verb, must be a relative clause.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Things work slightly differently if a relative clause begins with wer, wo, was, or a wo-compound, since then the relative clause often is not referring to a noun just preceding it.&nbsp; In order to interpret such clauses, you should <a href=\"#WerWoWas\">refer to the explanation above of the relative pronouns wer, wo &amp; was<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#oben\">Zur\u00fcck nach oben<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Navigation Advice There is more information on this page than you are likely to have time for.&nbsp; We suggest that you proceed as follows: Summary &amp; Exercises Explanations &amp; Examples Action Mazes(Step by step practice with lots of feedback) Summary Introduction Diagnostic Exercises&nbsp;You will be asked 20 questions. IF YOU GET A QUESTION WRONG, KEEP&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/grammatik\/relative\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Relative Clauses<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"parent":19599,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"tw-no-title.php","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-19691","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jessica Darga","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/author\/jadarga\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Navigation Advice There is more information on this page than you are likely to have time for.&nbsp; We suggest that you proceed as follows: Summary &amp; Exercises Explanations &amp; Examples Action Mazes(Step by step practice with lots of feedback) Summary Introduction Diagnostic Exercises&nbsp;You will be asked 20 questions. IF YOU GET A QUESTION WRONG, KEEP&hellip;&hellip;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19691"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45310,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19691\/revisions\/45310"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/german-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}