Relative Clauses (Relativsätze)

A relative clause (Relativsatz) acts like an expanded adjective: it describes or identifies a preceding noun in detail (“the man who gave the speech”, “the friends whom I trust”). Because every German relative clause is a type of subordinate clause, the conjugated verb sits at the very end and commas always mark its boundaries.

Unlike English—which mostly gets by with who, whom, whose, which, and that—German declines its relative pronouns to mirror both the noun and the role inside the clause.

The Two-Step Rule for Choosing a Relative Pronoun

Never guess a relative pronoun by how the noun sounded in the first half of the sentence. Instead, apply this two-step check every time:

1. Gender & Number come from the antecedent noun being described (in the main clause).
2. Case comes from the pronoun’s grammatical job inside the relative clause (subject = Nominative, direct object = Accusative, indirect/dative-verb object = Dative, possession = Genitive).

For example, in “Das ist der Mann, … ich gestern gesehen habe”, der Mann is masculine singular (Step 1). Inside the relative clause, ich is the subject and sehen needs a direct object—so the relative pronoun is masculine accusative: den.

Relative Pronoun Matrix

Notice how almost every cell matches the standard definite articles, except for two high-visibility cells: denen (Dative Plural) and dessen / deren (Genitive).

(Look familiar? These exact forms match the independent demonstrative pronouns der/die/das.)

Sentence Examples Across All 4 Cases

1. Nominative (Subject of the Relative Clause)

• Das ist der Mann (der Mann), der die Rede (die Rede) hält. (That is the man who is giving the speech. — der Mann is masc. sg.; inside the clause it performs hält → Nominative der.)

2. Accusative (Direct Object Inside the Relative Clause)

• Das ist der Mann, den ich gestern gesehen habe. (That is the man whom I saw yesterday. — ich is the subject; der Mann is what I saw → Accusative den.)
• Hier ist das Buch (das Buch), das ich dir empfohlen habe. (Here is the book that I recommended to you.)

3. Dative (Indirect Object or Dative Verb Inside the Relative Clause)

Remember common verbs that govern the dative case, such as helfen, danken, vertrauen, gehören, and gefallen:

• Singular: Das ist die Kollegin (die Kollegin), der wir geholfen haben. (That is the colleague whom we helped. — helfen takes dative; fem. sg. dative → der.)
• Plural: Das sind die Freunde (Pl., der Freund), denen ich vertraue. (Those are the friends whom I trust. — vertrauen takes dative; plural dative → denen!)

4. Genitive (Possession: “Whose”)

When the relative clause expresses possession (whose book, whose idea), use dessen (after masculine or neuter nouns) or deren (after feminine or plural nouns). Notice two key features:

• Never put an extra article (der/ein) after dessen or deren.
• Remember that dessen/deren looks backward at the owner’s gender/number—not at the noun that follows it!
  • Der Autor (der Autor), dessen Roman (der Roman) berühmt ist, kommt heute. (The author whose novel is famous is coming today. — der Autor is masc. → dessen.)
  • Die Frau (die Frau), deren Idee (die Idee) gewann, freut sich. (The woman whose idea won is happy. — die Frau is fem. → deren.)
  • Das Kind (das Kind), dessen Fahrrad (das Fahrrad) weg ist, weint. (The child whose bike is gone is crying. — das Kind is neut. → dessen.)

Embedding Relative Clauses & Comma Rules

German often drops a relative clause right after the noun it describes, splitting the main clause in two. Put commas on both sides of an embedded relative clause, and remember to keep the main clause’s rest in place afterward:

• Der Kollege (der Kollege), der heute Urlaub (der Urlaub) hat, arbeitet morgen wieder. (The colleague who has the day off today is working again tomorrow.)

And unlike English (“the man I saw”), German can NEVER omit the relative pronoun—den is always required.

To handle relative clauses paired with prepositions (mit dem, über den) or indefinite antecedents (alles, was), continue to Relative Clauses with Prepositions & Special Pronouns.

Common Mistakes to Avoid