Relative clauses in the nominative

A relative clause adds information about a noun, like 'the colleague who comes from Pune'. In the nominative, German uses der, die, das and die as the words for 'who', 'which' and 'that'.

By the Desi European Tales editorial team · Updated 1 November 2026

What a relative clause does

Instead of two short sentences, you can join them into one:

Das ist mein Kollege. Er kommt aus Pune. → Das ist mein Kollege, der aus Pune kommt. – That is my colleague who comes from Pune.
Ich habe eine Wohnung. Sie ist sehr hell. → Ich habe eine Wohnung, die sehr hell ist. – I have a flat which is very bright.

The word that starts the relative clause is the relative pronoun. On this page it is the subject of the relative clause – the person or thing that does something – so it is in the nominative.

The relative pronouns in the nominative

In the nominative, the relative pronouns look exactly like the definite articles. Choose the one that matches the gender and number of the noun it refers to.

Noun	Pronoun	Example
masculine (der Bus)	der	Der Bus, der um acht fährt, ist oft voll.
feminine (die Ärztin)	die	Die Ärztin, die mich behandelt, spricht Englisch.
neuter (das Restaurant)	das	Das Restaurant, das neben der Post ist, ist neu.
plural (die Freunde)	die	Ich habe Freunde, die in Berlin wohnen.

English chooses between who for people and which for things. German does not care whether the noun is a person or a thing – only its gender matters. So der Tisch, der … and der Mann, der … use the same pronoun.

Word order and commas

A relative clause is a subordinate clause, so two rules apply:

The conjugated verb goes to the end: der Kollege, der aus Pune kommt.
The relative clause is always separated by commas. If it is in the middle of a sentence, it needs a comma before and after.

Die Frau, die im Büro arbeitet, heißt Meera. – The woman who works in the office is called Meera.
Wie heißt der Film, der gestern im Fernsehen kam? – What is the film that was on TV yesterday called?
Das Kind, das hier gespielt hat, ist weg. – The child who was playing here has gone.
Kennst du jemanden, der gut kochen kann? – Do you know someone who can cook well?

With a modal verb or a perfect tense, the conjugated verb comes last: gespielt hat, kochen kann.

Tips for getting it right

Find the noun first. Ask: which noun does the clause describe? Then take its article. Die Leute, die … because die Leute is plural.
The verb agrees with the noun. After a plural noun the verb is plural: Freunde, die in Berlin wohnen.
Do not use was after a normal noun. Das Auto, was rot ist is common in casual speech in some regions, but standard German says das Auto, das rot ist.
Never leave out the pronoun. English can say the book I read, but German always needs the pronoun.

When you can use the nominative well, the next step is the other cases: der Mann, den ich kenne (accusative) and der Mann, dem ich helfe (dative).

Common mistakes

Not quite	Correct	Why
Das ist der Mann, der wohnt neben mir.	Das ist der Mann, der neben mir wohnt.	In a relative clause the conjugated verb goes to the end.
Ich habe eine Freundin, der in Köln wohnt.	Ich habe eine Freundin, die in Köln wohnt.	Freundin is feminine, so the relative pronoun is die.
Das Auto, was vor dem Haus steht, ist neu.	Das Auto, das vor dem Haus steht, ist neu.	After a normal noun, standard German uses das, not was.
Die Leute, die aus Indien kommt, sind nett.	Die Leute, die aus Indien kommen, sind nett.	Leute is plural, so the verb in the relative clause is plural too.

Practice questions

Practise it in the course

Back to the grammar reference or to the A2 lessons.

Sources

Original practice questions written by the Desi European Tales editorial team; they are not the official exam questions. Checked 1 November 2026.

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