Relative pronouns Flashcards
What are relative pronouns?
In English words like who, which, what, that.
The man who has just come in is Ann’s boyfriend.
Translate to German
The child whose bike had been stolen started crying
Das Kind, dessen Fahrrad gestohlen worden war, fing an zu weinen
In English, the relative pronoun can be omitted, but not in German
Decline
der (masc) / who
- der (nom)
- den (acc)
- dessen (gen)
- dem (dat)
Decline
die (fem) / who
- die (nom)
- die (acc)
- deren (gen)
- der (dat)
Decline
das (neut) / who
- das (nom)
- das (acc)
- dessen (gen)
- dem (dat)
Decline
die (plural) / who
- die (nom)
- die (acc)
- deren (gen)
- denen (dat)
Translate to German
The woman I spoke to yesterday knows your mother
Die Frau, mit der ich gestern gesprochen habe, kennt deine Mutter
The relative pronoun agrees in gen/no with the noun to which it refers
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The student whose smartphone was stolen went to the police
Der Student, dessen Smartphone gestohlen wurde, ging zur Polizei
The case of the rel pronoun is given by its role in the relative clause
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The man I saw yesterday comes from Zurich
Der Mann, den ich gestern gesehen habe, kommt aus Zürich
The relative pronoun agrees in gen/no with the noun to which it refers
Translate to German
Anyone who believes that is crazy
Wer das glaubt, ist verrückt
Wer can be used as a relative pronoun
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What you bought yesterday suits you quite well.
Was du gestern gekauft hast, steht dir ganz gut.
Was can be used as a relative pronoun
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What you are doing now is impractical
Das, was du jetzt machst, ist unpraktisch
Was is the relative pronoun in certain set phrases
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We agree with everything you said
Mit allem, was du gesagt hast, sind wir einverstanden
Was is the relative pronoun in certain set phrases
Translate to German
Nothing he said was true.
Nichts, was er sagte, hat gestimmt.
Was is the relative pronoun in certain set phrases
