ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the use of relative pronouns in the German grammar. Relative pronouns in German correspond to the use of English ‘who’, ‘which’ and ‘that’ after a noun or pronoun. In German, the relative pronoun is often identical to the definite article, agreeing in gender and number with the preceding noun. The chapter presents a table that lists all forms of the relative pronoun, underlining those that differ from the definite article. English learners of German are often tempted to use the conjunction dass instead of a relative pronoun, as it also means ‘that’, but this is incorrect. If English ‘that’ could also mean ‘which’ or ‘who’, then it is a relative pronoun in German. When a relative pronoun is used with a preposition, the preposition always precedes the relative pronoun, as in formal English. The relative pronoun appears in the case required by the preposition.
