Deutsch — Advanced relative pronouns
Beyond der/die/das: the genitive forms dessen and deren, prepositions bound to a relative pronoun (mit dem, auf die), was after alles/nichts/etwas/das, the wo(r)- forms and wer as a generalizing relative.
How it works
The genitive relatives are dessen (masculine/neuter) and deren (feminine/plural): der Mann, dessen Auto kaputt ist; die Frau, deren Kinder hier spielen. When the relative depends on a preposition, the preposition comes first and the pronoun takes its case: das Haus, in dem ich wohne; die Freunde, auf die ich warte. For an indefinite antecedent (alles, nichts, etwas, das) the relative is was: alles, was ich weiß. When such a relative would carry a preposition, German usually fuses it into a wo(r)- form: das, worüber wir sprechen. Finally, wer works as a headless relative meaning "whoever": Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten.
Examples
| Type | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive, masc./neut. | der Mann, dessen Auto kaputt ist | the man whose car is broken |
| Genitive, fem./plural | die Frau, deren Kinder hier spielen | the woman whose children are playing here |
| Preposition + dative | das Haus, in dem ich wohne | the house in which I live |
| Preposition + accusative | die Freunde, auf die ich warte | the friends I am waiting for |
| was after indefinite | alles, was ich weiß | everything (that) I know |
| wo(r)- form | das, worüber wir sprechen | the thing we are talking about |
| wer (headless) | Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten | whoever laughs last, laughs best |
Good to know
dessen and deren never change for the case of the noun they modify — it is die Frau, deren Sohn (nominative object) and der Vertrag, dessen Bedingungen wir ablehnen (accusative object) alike; the choice depends only on the antecedent's gender/number. Do not confuse them with the demonstrative deren/derer. Also: the wo(r)- forms are standard for things but avoided for people — say der Mann, mit dem ich spreche, not *der Mann, womit*; and use worüber (with -r-) before a vowel, worauf, wovon otherwise.