A noun is a word used to name a person, an object, an abstract quality or a concept and a personal pronoun stands in for a noun, usually for a person or thing. Relative pronouns (in a relative clause) are pronouns refer to a noun in the main clause.
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to begin a relative clause – relative pronouns are words that correspond to “who, whom or that ” in English
Word order:
- A comma is always in front of the relative pronoun, which is put into the correct gender depending on the noun it refers to.
- The verb (in the relative clause) goes to the end of the sentence.
Note:
Relative pronouns have the same gender as the nouns they refer (main clause)
Example:
English: This is the book that I bought last week
German: Dies ist das Buch, das ich letzte Woche gekauft habe.
The book (German: das Buch) is neuter in German, the realtive pronoun refers to “the book” and is the subject (-> Nom. case) in the relative clause. So you take the “das” as the right form.
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