Want to sound more natural and connect ideas smoothly in German? Relative clauses are your best friend. They let you add details without starting a new sentence: “The woman who lives next door,” “the car that I bought,” “the reason why I called.” Today you’ll learn how German relative clauses work, which pronouns to use, where commas go, and how to pick the right case like a pro.

What is a relative clause?

A relative clause gives extra information about a noun. In English, it starts with “who/which/that.” In German, it starts with a relative pronoun (der/die/das, etc.) and the verb goes to the end of that clause.

Notice the comma before the relative clause and the verb at the end of it: wohnt, hast.

The building blocks: core relative pronouns

• Nominative: der (m), die (f), das (n), die (pl)
• Accusative: den (m), die (f), das (n), die (pl)
• Dative: dem (m/n), der (f), denen (pl)
• Genitive (possession): dessen (m/n), deren (f/pl)

You’ll often see prepositions before the pronoun: mit der, für den, in dem, über das, aus denen, etc.

Choosing the case: a simple 3-step method

1. Find the antecedent (the noun you’re describing).
2. Look only inside the relative clause and ask: What role does the pronoun play there? Subject? Direct object? Object of a preposition? Possessor?
3. Choose the case accordingly.

Examples:

• Der Film, den ich gestern gesehen habe, war super. → ‘den’ = direct object of ‘gesehen’ (Akkusativ)
• Die Stadt, in der er geboren wurde, ist wunderschön. → ‘in der’ = object of preposition ‘in’ (Dativ)
• Die Frau, deren Hund so laut bellt, wohnt hier. → ‘deren’ = possession (Genitiv)

Ich kenne die Stadt, in er geboren wurde.

Prepositions + relative pronouns

Prepositions don’t disappear in relative clauses. They stand right before the pronoun:

• Das ist der Mensch, auf den ich warte. (I’m waiting for this person.)
• Die Nachbarin, mit der ich gestern gesprochen habe, ist Ärztin.
• Das sind die Gründe, für die wir kämpfen.

You can also use wo-compounds like worüber/womit when the antecedent is a thing or idea: „Das ist das Thema, worüber wir diskutieren.“ Both „über das …“ and „worüber …“ are acceptable with things.

Das ist alles, ich dir heute sagen kann.

Special cases: was, welcher, wo

• was replaces der/die/das after alles, etwas, nichts, wenig, vieles and after an entire idea: „Er versprach zu kommen, was mich überrascht hat.“
• welcher/welche/welches exists but is more formal/literary; in everyday German, der/die/das is preferred.
• wo is common colloquially with places, but in writing use preposition + dem/der: „die Stadt, in der …“, „der Tag, an dem …“.

Culturally, German writing (emails, reports, news) tends to use clear, well-punctuated relative clauses. In spoken German, relative clauses are also very common, and regional varieties (especially in the south) use ‘wo’ more freely.

Das ist das Buch, dass ich lese. → Das ist das Buch, das ich lese. ‘dass’ (conjunction) ≠ ‘das’ (relative pronoun). Ich kenne den Mann, den Auto rot ist. → Ich kenne den Mann, dessen Auto rot ist. Use Genitiv ‘dessen/deren’ for possession in relative clauses.

One more look at word order

Keep the relative clause tight: place negation and adverbs before the verb cluster at the end.

• Der Plan, den wir gestern nicht besprochen haben, bleibt offen.
• Die Idee, über die wir heute kurz sprechen wollen, ist spannend.

If the relative clause sits in the middle, wrap it in commas:

• Die Kollegin, mit der ich oft telefoniere, kommt später.

Summary and quick practice

• Choose the pronoun by gender/number of the noun; choose the case by the role inside the relative clause.
• Put a comma before (and after, if the clause is in the middle).
• Send the finite verb to the end of the relative clause.
• With prepositions, put them right before the pronoun (mit der, für den, in dem). Use ‘was’ after alles/etwas/nichts; in writing prefer an dem/in der over plain ‘wo’.

You’ve got this! Keep an eye on the case inside the clause, let the verb fall to the end, and don’t forget your commas. With a few more reps, your German will connect ideas as smoothly as a native speaker’s.