Relative clauses 1
In the last chapter, we looked at the dass-clause. The second type of subordinate clause that we are learning is the relative clause.
Why is the relative clause special?
The subordinate clauses we have studied so far begin with a subordinating conjunction "dass". Dass-clauses are "demanded" by the verb of the main clause as part of the government of the verb. That is the reason we compiled a list of verbs that are used with this kind of subordinate clause.
The relative clause on the other hand, does not start with a subordinating conjunction, but rather is introduced and linked to the main clause by a relative pronoun.
These pronouns are "relative" because they relate to a noun in the main clause. The noun that the pronoun relates to is called its antecedent.
Pronouns stand in for nouns, and in German the pronoun has to be in the same gender and number (singular or plural) as the noun it replaces. This rule applies as well for the relative pronoun. The relative pronoun must have the same gender and number as its antecedent.
In addition, the pronoun may be the subject or the object in the subordinate clause or part of a prepositional phrase. Therefore, the relative pronoun may appear in a different case than its antecedent according to the function it has in the subordinate clause that it introduces.
Relative pronouns in English
| Masc. & Fem | Neut. | |
| Subject case | who | that / which |
| Object case | whom | that / which |
| Genitive = possessive | whose | whose |
As you see, this is one of the rare situations where the English language remembers a little about gender and case! However, because in general speakers of English pay little attention these distinctions, we are not sure when to use "whom" or "who" and frequently use the all-purpose "that" as a relative pronoun even when referring to people.
The girl that (whom) I am going to marry is Mary. (Or: The girl I'm going to marry is Mary.)
Mary, who (whom) Tom likes so much, is quite a nice girl.
But: Mary, to whom Tom proposed last night, accepted. (After a preposition we usually feel comfortable using whom.)
In contrast, the distinctions of case, number, and gender are alive and well in the German language. We have already encountered the interrogative who?, German wer?
The relative who/that is different, but will look very familiar:
| Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | Plural | ||
| Nom. | der | die | das | die | |
| Acc. | den | die | das | die | |
| Dat. | dem | der | dem | denen | |
| Gen. | dessen | deren | dessen | deren |
The relative pronouns der, die, das, pl. die are declined like the definite article, except for the dative plural, and the genitive (possessive).
You only have a few new forms to watch out for!
Restrictive Clauses in German and English
Do you know why you might choose "which" instead of "that" as a relative pronoun in English?
This is a problem that I just can't be bothered with now.
This is your problem, which I just can't be bothered with now.
The first is a restrictive clause: the who/that follows the antecedent noun directly, with no pause or comma. The clause restricts or defines the antecedent noun. The second clause, introduced by which, is nonrestrictive and is set off by a comma from the antecedent; it just adds information about an already complete idea. You will be glad to know that you don't need to worry about this distinction in German! In German, ALL subordinate clauses are separated from the main clause by commas and the der-die-das pronoun works in either situation.
German has another relative pronoun that looks more like our "which": welcher, welche, welches, pl. welche is declined like the interrogative welcher. However, welcher is not used any more in German. You will find welcher often in older texts, so you need to be able to recognize it.