Relative Pronouns Flashcards
A. Relative pronoun in the nominative 5 subject
Der Schriftsteller, der das Buch schrieb, heißt Günther Grass.
Die Schriftstellerin, die das Buch schrieb, heißt Herta Müller.
The author who wrote the book is Günther Grass
The author who wrote the book is Herta Müller. rass. (m. sing.)
B. Relative pronoun in the accusative = direct object
(or object of accu
Der Schriftsteller, den die Kritiker loben, heißt Günther Grass.
. .
.The writer whom the critics are praising is named Günther Grass. (m. sing.)
C. Relative pronoun in the dative 5 indirect object (or object
of dative
Der Schriftsteller, dem sie den Preis geben, heißt Günther Grass.
The writer to whom they give the prize is called Günther Grass
D. Relative pronoun in the genitive = possessive noun
Der Schriftsteller, dessen Buch wir alle lesen wollen, heißt
Günther Grass.
Die Schriftsteller, über deren Bücher wir alle diskutieren, heißen
Grass und Müller.
The writer whose book we all want to read is called Günther Grass.
The writers whose books we all discuss are called
Grass and Müller.
16.5 Was as a Relative Pronoun
Was is used as a relative pronoun after neuter entities, such as alles, vieles, nichts, etwas, das e.g.
Alles, was ich weiß, ‘
Etwas, was die Kritiker nicht mögen,
Es gibt nichts mehr, was man wissen muss.
Everything that I know
Something the critics don’t like,
There is nothing more you need to know.
Was is used after a neuter superlative.
Das Interessanteste, was ich gehört habe, war
Das Allerschlimmste, was passieren kann, ist
The most interesting thing (that) I heard was
The very worst (thing) that can happen is .
Was is used as a relative pronoun when there is no specific antecedent.
Er erzählte uns, was schon jeder wusste.
He told us what everyone already knew
Was is used as a relative pronoun referring to an entire preceding statement and then usually means a fact that or something that.
Die Wahlergebnisse wurden nicht bestritten, was niemand
verstehen kann
The election results weren’t contested, a fact that no one can
understand.
