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Referring to Antecedents by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

You make a connection between a sentence and a relative sentence by using a relative pronoun. Here is an example: Der Mann, dessen Schwester ich gestern gesehen habe, ist jetzt in der Bücherei. This translates as: “The man, whose sister I saw yesterday, is now in the library.” The part “whose sister I saw yesterday” is the relative clause, introduced by the relative pronoun “whose.”

In German, this relative pronoun needs to agree in number and gender with the noun that comes before it.

The case of the relative pronoun, however, is determined by its grammatical significance in the relative clause. In the above mentioned example, “whose” translates as dessen and is in the genitive case.

Exercise 22

Translate the following relative pronouns into English.

  • Acc. Neuter Singular: das________________

  • Gen. Neuter Singular: dessen________________

  • Dat. Neuter Singular: dem________________

  • Acc. Plural: die    ________________

  • Dat. Feminine Singular: der________________

  • Acc. Feminine Singular: die________________

  • Acc. Masculine Singular: den________________

  • Dat. Plural: denen    ________________

  • Nom. Masculine Singular: der________________

  • Nom. Neuter Singular: das ________________

  • Nom. Feminine Singular: die________________

  • Gen. Masculine Singular: dessen________________

  • Gen. Plural: deren     ________________

  • Nom. Plural: die     ________________

  • Dat. Masculine Singular: dem________________

  • Gen. Feminine Singular: deren________________

Exercise 23

TRACK 11

Listen to and translate the following German sentences.

  • Die Frau, die dort steht, heiöt Kühn.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Der Mann, dessen Sohn ich kenne, wohnt hier.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Das ist das Kind, dem sie den Ring gegeben hat.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Der Mantel, den er heute trägt, ist neu.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Der Spiegel, an dem er steht, gehört mir.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Die Männer, mit denen ich gestern gesprochen habe, sind meine Mitstudenten.

    ____________________________________________________________________

  • Der Junge, der das Lesen heute nicht beenden kann, muss morgen wiederkommen.

    ____________________________________________________________________

Exercise 24

Always use commas to set off the relative clause from the main clause, and never leave out the relative pronoun. Welch (which) is an additional relative pronoun.

Decline welch according to the given number, gender, and case. Since welch does not have genitive forms, dessen and deren are used in that case. Some of the answers have been provided.

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Acc. Masc. Singular:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>welchen</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Gen. Plural:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>____________</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Dat. Fem. Singular:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>____________</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Acc. Neut. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Acc. Plural:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Nom. Masc. Singular:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>welcher</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Acc. Fem. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Nom. Plural:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. Nom. Fem. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. Gen. Fem. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>11. Nom. Neut. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>12. Gen. Neut. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>13. Gen. Masc. Singular:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dessen</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>14. Dat. Plural:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>15. Dat. Masc. Singular:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>welchem</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>16. Dat. Neut. Singular:</p></td> <td><p>_____________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 25</h2> <p>Question words such as <emphasis>was, wer, wessen, wen, and wem</emphasis> can also be used as relative pronouns. The relative pronoun was is used very frequently when the antecedent is an indefinite pronoun such as <emphasis>etwas</emphasis> (“something”) or a superlative such as “the most beautiful.”</p> <p>Match each of questions 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 with one of the following sets of words (he who, whoever), (what, whatever, that), (whose), (whomever, to whom), (whomever/whom). Then translate questions 1, 3, 4, 7, and 11.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>Das ist das Schönste, was ich je gehabt habe</emphasis>.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Acc: was</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Was ich habe, gehört dir</emphasis>.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Wer einmal lügt, dem glaubt man nicht</emphasis>.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Nom: <emphasis>was</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p>Nom: <emphasis>wer</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Alles, was sie darüber gehört hat, stimmt</emphasis>.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Acc: <emphasis>wen</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p>Gen: <emphasis>wessen</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p>Dat: <emphasis>wem</emphasis>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Wem ich 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