German Relative Clauses with Prepositions: mit dem, auf den

German relative clauses with prepositions put the preposition in front of the relative pronoun at the start of the clause — der Mann, mit dem ich spreche ("the man I'm speaking with"). German never strands a preposition at the end the way English does. The preposition you choose sets the case of the relative pronoun (mit → dative, für → accusative), while the pronoun's gender and number still come from the antecedent — the noun in the main clause being described.

This is one of the few corners of German where the rule is unforgivingly strict: word order and case interlock, and getting the preposition into the right slot is the whole game.

Quick reference: preposition + relative pronoun pairings

Read a row left to right as: pick the column that matches your preposition; the cell tells you the relative-pronoun form. The bottom row is the wo(r)- compound, used only for inanimate antecedents.

You can practise these prepositional relative clauses right here — the interactive drills below are free, need no sign-up, and instantly check whether you fronted the preposition and picked the right pronoun and case.

What are German relative clauses with prepositions?

A relative clause modifies a noun in the main clause (the antecedent). When the verb inside the relative clause governs a preposition, that preposition has to come out to the front:

Der Mann, mit dem ich arbeite, kommt aus Italien. — The man I work with comes from Italy.

Der Film, für den ich Karten gekauft habe, war ausverkauft. — The movie I bought tickets for was sold out.

Die Stadt, in der ich aufgewachsen bin, ist sehr klein. — The city I grew up in is very small.

The structure is always: main clause, [comma] [preposition] [relative pronoun] … [verb at the end], rest of main clause. Two commas, never one. The conjugated verb of the relative clause is the very last word before the closing comma.

Relative pronoun forms (reminder)

The genitive forms (dessen / deren) exist but aren't used after prepositions — they replace a possessive, not an object. See B1 relative pronouns for the full table.

How do I pick the case after the preposition?

The preposition decides — exactly as it would with a normal noun phrase. There are three groups.

Accusative prepositions: für, durch, gegen, ohne, um

The five accusative prepositions — durch, für, gegen, ohne, um — always take accusative, so the relative pronoun is den / die / das / die.

Der Film, für den ich Karten gekauft habe, war großartig. — The movie I bought tickets for was great.

Die Straße, durch die wir gefahren sind, war gesperrt. — The street we drove through was blocked.

Das Projekt, für das er viel Zeit investiert hat, ist fertig. — The project he invested a lot of time in is done.

Die Regeln, gegen die er verstoßen hat, sind klar. — The rules he broke are clear.

Das Gebäude, um das wir herumgelaufen sind, war riesig. — The building we walked around was huge.

Dative prepositions: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

The dative prepositions — aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu — always take dative, so the relative pronoun is dem / der / dem / denen.

Der Freund, mit dem ich ins Kino gehe, kommt aus Italien. — The friend I go to the cinema with comes from Italy.

Die Kollegin, von der ich dir erzählt habe, ist sehr nett. — The colleague I told you about is very nice.

Das Haus, aus dem er gekommen ist, sieht alt aus. — The house he came out of looks old.

Die Leute, mit denen ich zusammenarbeite, sind freundlich. — The people I work with are friendly.

Der Arzt, bei dem ich in Behandlung bin, hat seine Praxis in der Altstadt. — The doctor I'm being treated by has his practice in the old town.

Watch the dative plural: it is always denen with an -en, never "den". Die Leute, mit denen ich arbeite — not "mit den".

Two-way prepositions: case follows the verb

The nine two-way prepositions — an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen — can take either accusative (direction, abstract verb objects) or dative (location, fixed dative expressions). In relative clauses the case is almost always fixed by the governing verb or expression, not by direction-vs-location reasoning.

Dative — location and fixed dative expressions:

Die Stadt, in der ich lebe, ist sehr schön. — The city I live in is very beautiful.

Der Tisch, auf dem das Buch liegt, ist aus Holz. — The table the book is lying on is made of wood.

Die Straße, an der das Restaurant liegt, ist sehr belebt. — The street the restaurant is on is very busy.

Accusative — verb + preposition idioms:

Der Bus, auf den ich gewartet habe, kam nicht. — The bus I waited for didn't come. (warten auf + Akk)

Das Thema, über das wir gesprochen haben, war interessant. — The topic we talked about was interesting. (sprechen über + Akk)

Die Person, an die ich gedacht habe, hat mich angerufen. — The person I was thinking about called me. (denken an + Akk)

Das Geschenk, über das sie sich gefreut hat, war teuer. — The gift she was happy about was expensive. (sich freuen über + Akk)

The most reliable strategy is to memorize the verb together with its preposition and case — that pairing then transfers unchanged into the relative clause:

When to use wovon, worauf, womit with things

When the antecedent is inanimate or abstract — a thing, an idea, or a whole previous clause — German prefers a wo(r)- compound over preposition + relative pronoun:

Das Buch, wovon ich dir erzählt habe, ist endlich da. — The book I told you about is finally here.

Der Stuhl, worauf die Katze schläft, ist neu. — The chair the cat is sleeping on is new.

Das Werkzeug, womit ich gearbeitet habe, war stumpf. — The tool I worked with was blunt.

Er hat alles vergessen, worüber wir gesprochen hatten. — He forgot everything we'd talked about.

Mechanics: prepositions starting with a vowel insert an -r- (wo + r + auf → worauf, wo + r + über → worüber), consonant-initial prepositions don't (womit, wovon, wofür, wogegen). The wo(r)- form is required after indefinite/neutral antecedents like etwas, nichts, alles, das and is the colloquial default for any thing.

With people, never use the wo(r)- compound. Der Mann, wovon ich dir erzählt habe is wrong — you need Der Mann, von dem ich dir erzählt habe.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The four errors below cover the vast majority of B1-level slips with prepositional relative clauses.

Stranding the preposition English-style

Carrying English word order over directly produces an immediately ungrammatical German sentence.

There is no version of German where the preposition can sit at the end of the relative clause. Always move it to the front, in front of the relative pronoun.

Using wo(r)- with a person

The wo(r)- compound is reserved for inanimate antecedents. Applied to a person it sounds either ungrammatical or unintentionally dehumanizing.

Rule of thumb: if the antecedent could be replaced with he/she/they in English, use preposition + relative pronoun. If it would be it or that, the wo(r)- form is fine — and often preferred.

Choosing the wrong case after the preposition

Once the preposition is in front, the case is no longer negotiable: it's whatever that preposition always takes.

The dative-plural denen trap is the single most common error here — write it out long-form (mit + denen + ich arbeite) until it sticks.

Forgetting the preposition entirely

When the verb governs a preposition (warten auf, denken an, sich freuen über), the relative clause needs that preposition too. Dropping it changes the meaning or breaks the clause.

If your relative clause "feels" complete without a preposition but the underlying verb takes one, that's the warning sign — go back to the verb's normal frame (warten auf jemanden, teilnehmen an etwas) and bring that preposition along.

How prepositional relative clauses fit the bigger picture

The mechanics here build directly on three earlier topics:

• Relative pronouns (A2) introduce der/die/das as relative pronouns in the nominative and accusative — the forms you reuse here.
• B1 relative pronouns extend the table to dative denen and genitive dessen/deren — exactly the dative forms you need after mit, von, bei, …
• Two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) are where the case is genuinely ambiguous — but inside a relative clause that ambiguity collapses into the case the governing verb already requires.

In other words: if you have those three already, prepositional relative clauses add one new rule (preposition first) and one new form-pair (denen, the wo(r)- compound). The rest is recycling what you already know.