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WORD GRAMMAR
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Verb
- Conjugation in indicative
- Person and number
- Tenses
- Voice
- Mood
- Verb categories
- Valency
- Semantic categories of verbs
- Finite / non-finite verb forms
- Noun
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Article
- Pronoun
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Particle
- Interjection
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Verb
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SENTENCE GRAMMAR
- Clause types
- Complex clauses
- Constituents of a sentence
- Sentence structure
- Word order in a sentence
- Negation
Relative clauses
Meaning
Relative clauses refer to a noun or a pronoun that exists in the superordinate clause and stand right next to them.
Form and Function
Relative clauses are subordinate attributive clauses that are introduced by a conjunction and contain a finite verb form.
Note: relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns or relative adverbs.
The relative pronoun der, die, das
The relative pronoun der, die, das is inflected as follows.
singular
|
plural
|
|||
masculine
|
feminine
|
neuter
|
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nominative |
der
|
die
|
das
|
die
|
genitive |
dessen
|
deren
|
dessen
|
deren
|
dative |
dem
|
der
|
dem
|
denen
|
accusative |
den
|
die
|
das
|
die
|
The relative pronoun welcher, welche, welches is more seldom used in the place of the relative pronoun der, die, das, without any semantic change.
The choice of the right type of the relative pronoun der, die, das depends on:
1. The gender of the reference word
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | der die Prüfung bestanden hat, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | subject = nominative | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Die Studentin, | die die Prüfung bestanden hat, | heißt Lisa. | |||
gender | feminine | subject = nominative | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Das Kapitel, | das die Relativitätstheorie behandelt, | ist schwierig. | |||
gender | neuter | subject = nominative | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
2. The number of the reference word
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | der die Prüfung bestanden hat, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | subject = nominative | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Die Studenten, | die die Prüfung bestanden haben, | sind froh. | |||
gender | masculine | subject = nominative | |||
number | plural | ||||
syntactic function |
3. The syntactic function of the reference word and, consequently, the word that introduces the relative clause. The syntactic function also determines the case.
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | der die Prüfung bestanden hat, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | subject = nominative | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | den ich um Geld gebeten habe, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | accusative object | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | dem ich beim Umzug geholfen habe, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | dative object | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | dessen ich mich erinnere, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | genitive object | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | auf den ich warte, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | prepositional object * | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference ord | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | mit dem ich Fußball spiele, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | prepositional adverb * |
|||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
reference word | relative clause | ||||
Der Student, | dessen Mutter Pilotin ist, | heißt Paul. | |||
gender | masculine | genitive attribute | |||
number | singular | ||||
syntactic function |
* Nothing but a preposition can stand before the relative pronoun.