German Relative Pronouns
Choose the right relative pronoun every time: match the gender to the noun, the case to the clause, and handle dessen and deren.
Relative pronouns link a noun to extra information: the man who…, the book that…. German uses der, die, das and their case forms.
Two questions give you the right form: what gender is the noun, and what job does the pronoun do in its own clause?
Gender from the noun, case from the clause
The pronoun copies gender and number from the noun it refers to. Its case depends on its role inside the relative clause, where the verb goes to the end.
Der Mann, der dort drüben steht, ist mein Chef.
The man who is standing over there is my boss.
Das ist die Frau, die ich gestern kennengelernt habe.
That's the woman I met yesterday.
Der Film, den wir gesehen haben, war langweilig.
The film we saw was boring.
The full table
It matches the definite article except in the genitive and the dative plural. Those are the forms to learn by heart.
Nominative
- Masculineder
- Femininedie
- Neuterdas
- Pluraldie
Accusative
- Masculineden
- Femininedie
- Neuterdas
- Pluraldie
Dative
- Masculinedem
- Feminineder
- Neuterdem
- Pluraldenen
Genitive
- Masculinedessen
- Femininederen
- Neuterdessen
- Pluralderen
Denen, dessen, deren in action
- denen: dative plural – 'to/for whom'.
- dessen: whose, for a masculine or neuter owner.
- deren: whose, for a feminine or plural owner.
Die Kollegen, denen ich geholfen habe, sind sehr nett.
The colleagues I helped are very nice.
Das ist der Nachbar, dessen Hund immer bellt.
That's the neighbour whose dog always barks.
Meine Schwester, deren Mann aus Italien kommt, lebt in Rom.
My sister, whose husband is from Italy, lives in Rome.
With prepositions, and was
A preposition goes in front of the pronoun and sets its case. After alles, etwas, nichts, das or a whole idea, use was instead of das.
Das ist die Firma, für die ich arbeite.
That's the company I work for.
Das ist alles, was ich weiß.
That's all I know.
Common mistakes
✗
Der Mann, der ich sehe, …✓ Der Mann, den ich sehe, …
He is the object in the clause: accusative den.
✗
Die Leute, den ich helfe, …✓ Die Leute, denen ich helfe, …
Dative plural relative pronoun is denen.
✗
Die Frau, die kommt aus Wien, …✓ Die Frau, die aus Wien kommt, …
The verb goes to the end of the relative clause.
✗
Das ist alles, das ich weiß.✓ Das ist alles, was ich weiß.
After alles, use was.
Questions learners ask
How do I choose the right German relative pronoun?
Take gender and number from the noun it refers to, and case from its role in the relative clause. Then pick the form from the table.
When do you use dessen and deren?
Both mean 'whose'. Dessen refers back to a masculine or neuter noun, deren to a feminine or plural noun.
Can you leave out the relative pronoun in German?
No. English can say 'the film I saw', but German always needs it: der Film, den ich gesehen habe.