Relativsätze (Relative clauses)

B1 German grammar — Media & News. Relative clauses **narrow down** which noun you mean. The **relative pronoun** (*der/die/das, welcher*, or *wo* for plac…

Open chapter: Medien & Nachrichten

Rule explained

Relative clauses **narrow down** which noun you mean. The **relative pronoun** (*der/die/das, welcher*, or *wo* for places) agrees in **gender and number** with its **antecedent**, but its **case** comes from the **role inside the relative clause** (*Die Journalistin, **der** ich **vertraue** …* — *der* = feminine dative because of *vertrauen + Dativ*). **Preposition + relative** pushes the pronoun to the clause-initial cluster (*die Sendung, **auf die** ich mich freue*). Commas set off non-restrictive relatives more strictly in German than in English journalism.

Examples

Use these mini-pairs as templates:

• Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Vater. — The man who is standing there is my father.
• Das Buch, das ich lese, ist spannend. — The book that I am reading is exciting.
• Die Frau, mit der ich spreche, … — The woman I'm speaking with…

Common mistakes

Watch out for these learner errors:

• Comma BEFORE the relative pronoun is mandatory.
• Verb at the END of the relative clause.