Relativsätze im Nominativ und Akkusativ

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📘 Grammatik · Unit 22 · 1/15

Relativsätze im Nominativ und Akkusativ

4 parts8 examples3 common mistakes

Example

  1. Der Kollege, der neben mir sitzt, ist neu.The colleague who sits next to me is new.

Rule

A relative clause describes a noun more precisely — instead of two short sentences you get one.

Practise

This topic’s own test: 10 sets, 10 questions in each.Grammatik-Test →

The relative pronoun

It looks like the definite article. Gender and number come from the antecedent, the case from the role in the relative clause.

KasusmaskulinfemininneutralPlural
Nominativderdiedasdie
Akkusativdendiedasdie
Dativdemderdemdenen

Nominative: subject in the relative clause

If the antecedent is the subject in the relative clause, the pronoun is in the nominative.

  1. Der Kollege, der neben mir sitzt, ist neu.The colleague who sits next to me is new.
  2. Die Frau, die uns geholfen hat, arbeitet hier.The woman who helped us works here.
  3. Das Buch, das auf dem Tisch liegt, gehört mir.The book that is lying on the table belongs to me.

Accusative: object in the relative clause

If the antecedent is the object in the relative clause, the pronoun is in the accusative. As in every subordinate clause, the verb moves to the end.

  1. Der Film, den wir gestern gesehen haben, war gut.The film that we saw yesterday was good.
  2. Die Wohnung, die ich gemietet habe, ist klein.The apartment that I rented is small.
  3. Das Formular, das Sie ausgefüllt haben, ist vollständig.The form that you filled in is complete.

Don't forget the commas

A relative clause is always set off by commas — even in the middle of a sentence. It stands as close as possible behind the word it describes.

  1. Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Chef.The man who is standing there is my boss.
  2. Ich kenne die Frau, die du meinst.I know the woman you mean.

Common mistakes

Der Film, den war gut, … Der Film, der gut war, …
If the antecedent is the subject of the relative clause, der is used.
Der Film, den wir gesehen haben war gut. Der Film, den wir gesehen haben, war gut.
The relative clause is separated by commas on both sides.
Die Frau, die uns hat geholfen, … Die Frau, die uns geholfen hat, …
In the relative clause the conjugated verb stands at the end.

Quick check · 3 questions

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