German Relative Pronouns: Der, Die, Das as Subject

German relative pronouns are the small words — der, die, das, die — that introduce a relative clause and link it back to a noun in the main clause. They tell you who or which is being described, and they decide how the rest of the clause is built: which noun the clause modifies, what case the pronoun takes, and where the verb has to land.

This page is the A2 entry point and focuses on nominative relative pronouns, where the relative pronoun is the subject of its own clause (Der Mann, der dort steht…). Accusative and dative relative pronouns — den, dem, denen — are covered in the B1 reference on relative pronouns in Akk & Dat and the B1 doc on relative clauses with prepositions.

Quick reference: relative pronoun forms

In the nominative the relative pronoun matches the gender and number of the noun it refers to (the antecedent):

These forms are identical to the definite articles, but they behave differently — they introduce a subordinate clause and push the conjugated verb to the end.

Want to drill these forms before reading on? You can practise nominative relative pronouns right here — the interactive exercises lower down the page are completely free, need no sign-up, and check every der/die/das clause the instant you submit it.

What are German relative pronouns?

A relative pronoun is a word that does two jobs at once: it stands in for a noun from the main clause, and it connects a subordinate clause that describes that noun. In English you have several options — who, which, that, whom — and you can sometimes drop the pronoun entirely ("the man I saw"). German is stricter:

• There is exactly one set of relative pronouns: der, die, das (plus die in the plural).
• You can never drop the relative pronoun. The man I saw has to become Der Mann, den ich gesehen habe.
• The relative clause is always set off by commas, even when it's short.
• The conjugated verb in the relative clause always moves to the end.

Because the relative pronoun's gender depends on the antecedent, getting German noun gender right is a prerequisite — der for a masculine noun, die for a feminine one, das for a neuter one, die for a plural.

How does the German relative clause work?

A relative clause has three moving parts: the antecedent in the main clause, the relative pronoun that points back to it, and the verb that closes the clause. Compare:

Der Mann ist mein Lehrer. + Der Mann steht dort. → Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer.

Here:

• The antecedent der Mann is masculine and singular → the relative pronoun has to be der.
• der is the subject of the relative clause (he is standing), so the case is nominative.
• The verb steht jumps to the end of the relative clause.
• Two commas — one before der, one after dort steht — fence the relative clause off.

The rule of thumb: gender and number from outside, case from inside. The antecedent gives you the column of the table; the role inside the relative clause gives you the row.

Using German relative pronouns in the nominative

The relative pronoun is in the nominative whenever it is the subject of its own clause — the person or thing doing the action inside the relative clause.

Masculine: der

Der Lehrer, der Deutsch unterrichtet, ist sehr nett. — The teacher who teaches German is very nice.

Ich kenne einen Mann, der drei Sprachen spricht. — I know a man who speaks three languages.

Feminine: die

Die Frau, die neben mir sitzt, kommt aus Berlin. — The woman who is sitting next to me comes from Berlin.

Hast du die Katze gesehen, die im Garten war? — Did you see the cat that was in the garden?

Neuter: das

Das Buch, das auf dem Tisch liegt, gehört mir. — The book that is lying on the table belongs to me.

Das Restaurant, das gestern geöffnet hat, ist sehr gut. — The restaurant that opened yesterday is very good.

Plural: die

Die Kinder, die draußen spielen, sind laut. — The children who are playing outside are loud.

Wo sind die Schlüssel, die hier lagen? — Where are the keys that were lying here?

Note again the mandatory comma before the relative pronoun and the conjugated verb in clause-final position.

Word order in a German relative clause

A nominative relative clause follows a fixed pattern:

[main clause], [relative pronoun] [rest of clause] [conjugated verb at END]

Ich kenne den Mann, der in unserem Haus wohnt.

Breaking it down:

• Main clause: Ich kenne den Mann — "I know the man".
• Comma → start of the relative clause.
• Relative pronoun: der (masculine, matches Mann; nominative because it's the subject of wohnt).
• Remaining clause elements: in unserem Haus.
• Conjugated verb at the end: wohnt.

When the relative clause is embedded in the middle of the sentence, it's fenced by commas on both sides, and the main clause picks up again right after the closing comma:

Der Mann, der in unserem Haus wohnt, ist sehr freundlich.

With separable verbs

The prefix rejoins the verb at the end of the clause:

Die Frau, die morgen ankommt, ist meine Tante. — The woman who arrives tomorrow is my aunt.

With modal verbs

The modal sits at the end, the infinitive even further to the right:

Das Kind, das nicht schlafen kann, weint. — The child who cannot sleep is crying.

With the perfect tense

The auxiliary (haben/sein) lands last, after the participle:

Der Gast, der gestern gekommen ist, bleibt eine Woche. — The guest who arrived yesterday is staying a week.

Welcher as an alternative relative pronoun

German has a second, more formal series of relative pronouns: welcher, welche, welches (plural welche). The forms match der/die/das in meaning and inflect the same way:

Der Mann, welcher dort steht, ist mein Lehrer. ≈ Der Mann, der dort steht, ist mein Lehrer.

In modern German, welcher as a relative pronoun is rare and sounds bookish. Use der/die/das by default. The one place welcher still feels natural is when it lets you avoid an awkward repetition of der, der or die, die in formal writing:

Der Schauspieler, welcher der Hauptrolle entsprach, war begeistert. — better than "der, der der Hauptrolle entsprach".

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

These are the four most common errors learners make with nominative relative pronouns, and the fix for each.

The shortcut: pick the gender and number from the antecedent in the main clause, then pick the case (here, nominative) from the role the pronoun plays inside the relative clause — and remember the comma and the verb-final order every time.

Beyond the nominative: where to go next

This page covers nominative relative pronouns only. As soon as the relative pronoun stops being the subject of its clause, the form changes:

• The pronoun as a direct object → accusative (den, die, das, die).
• The pronoun as an indirect object → dative (dem, der, dem, denen — note the irregular plural).
• The pronoun after a preposition (mit dem, für die, …) → case dictated by the preposition.

All three are covered in the B1 reference: relative pronouns in accusative and dative, with prepositional cases in relative clauses with prepositions.