B1-6 · Relative clauses in the nominative and accusative
Modern families
Introduce family members and partners with relative clauses that say who does what.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Who belongs to the family?
Families can include parents, partners, children and other people who share daily life. A relative clause adds information about a noun. Its pronoun matches that noun's gender and number. If the pronoun does the action, use the nominative.
Das ist mein Partner, der gern kocht.
This is my partner, who likes cooking.
Meine Schwester, die allein mit ihrem Sohn lebt, wohnt nebenan.
My sister, who lives alone with her son, lives next door.
Das Kind, das am Fenster sitzt, heißt Emil.
The child who is sitting by the window is called Emil.
Die Großeltern, die oft zu Besuch kommen, wohnen in der Nähe.
The grandparents, who often visit, live nearby.
The nominative forms are der, die, das and plural die. The finite verb goes at the end of the relative clause. Put a comma before the clause, and another after it if the main sentence continues.
02
Whom do you visit?
A relative pronoun can also be the object of an action. Ask who is doing the visiting or meeting inside the relative clause. With an accusative object, masculine der changes to den. Feminine die, neuter das and plural die keep the same form.
Der Mann, den wir am Sonntag besuchen, ist mein Stiefvater.
The man whom we visit on Sunday is my stepfather.
Die Frau, die du kennst, ist meine Partnerin.
The woman whom you know is my partner.
Das Baby, das ich auf dem Arm halte, ist meine Nichte.
The baby whom I am holding in my arms is my niece.
Die Kinder, die wir abholen, sind unsere Enkel.
The children whom we are picking up are our grandchildren.
Compare der uns besucht, who visits us, with den wir besuchen, whom we visit. The noun before the comma does not decide the case. The pronoun's job inside the relative clause does.
03
The case belongs to the relative clause
Meet another part of the family. Check each relative clause on its own. A person can be an object in the main clause and a subject in the relative clause, or the other way around.
Ich besuche den Vater, der hier wohnt.
I visit the father who lives here.
Der Vater, den ich besuche, lebt mit seinem Mann zusammen.
The father whom I visit lives with his husband.
Meine Stiefschwester, die in Bremen studiert, kommt morgen.
My stepsister, who studies in Bremen, is coming tomorrow.
Die Eltern, die wir heute treffen, teilen sich die Hausarbeit.
The parents whom we are meeting today share the housework.
In Ich besuche den Vater, der hier wohnt, den belongs to besuchen but der belongs to wohnt. The two forms need not match. To introduce your own family, start with one person and add one useful detail.
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Check what you remember with 12 short questions.
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