Important Differences between English and German - Relative Clauses | GERM 1102, Study notes of German Language

Download Important Differences between English and German - Relative Clauses | GERM 1102 and more Study notes German Language in PDF only on Docsity! Relative Clauses: Important differences between English and German 1. English can omit the relative pronoun-German NEVER does. She’s the woman ( ) I know. = Sie ist die Frau, die ich kenne. 2. English often ends the clause w/ a preposition-German NEVER does. He’s the man ( ) I work with. = Er ist der Mann, mit dem ich arbeite. 3. English doesn’t distinguish carefully between “who” and “whom” assuming it uses them at all. German DOES. He’s the teacher, who teaches math. (ok), but: He’s the teacher, who I have for math (NOT ok) = Er ist der Lehrer, der Mathe unterrichtet (ok) but Er ist der Lehrer, den ich für Mathe habe. 4. Even if “whom” is used correctly, it serves three functions in English: direct and indirect object or object of a preposition. Those are the parents, whom she saw (direct object). Those are the parents, whom she gave her car to (indirect object). That’s the girl, with whom he was speaking. (object of a preposition) Das sind die Eltern, die sie sah. Das sind die Eltern, denen sie ihren Wagen gab. Das ist das Mädchen, mit dem er gesprochen hat. 5. English uses “who(m)” for both questions (direct/indirect) and for relative pronouns, while German interrogative pronouns and relative pronouns are different. Consider: Do you know who the boy is, who is in school? = Weisst du, wer der Junge ist, der in der Schule ist. 6. English uses “that” as both a subordinating conjunction AND a relative pronoun. German NEVER does. She knew that the car, that was stolen, was a Mercedes. = Sie wusste, dass der Wagen, der gestohlen wurde, ein Mercedes war. In summary: a. ALWAYS include the relative pronoun. b. Always precede the relative pronoun w/ a preposition if one’s involved. c. Always select a relative pronoun that is the same gender as its antecedent. Remember it’s a PRONOUN, and German pronouns agree in gender w/ the nouns they replace. d. Always determine its CASE by its function in the clause, NOT by the case of its antecedent. e. Always remember that relative pronouns are IDENTICAL to the definite articles (der, die, das, dem, etc.) EXCEPT for all the genitives, so dessen (m), dessen (n), deren (f), deren (pl) and the dative plural denen. f. Finally, as you go through life remember it’s not who you know that’s important, but …whom! Relative Clauses (der Relativsatz [Relativsätze]) Relative Clauses in English. Relative clauses contain at least a subject and a verb and are used to modify nouns, pronouns, or sometimes whole phrases. A relative pronoun establishes the link to what is being modified (which is called the "antecedent"). In English, "who," "that," and "which" are the most common relative pronouns: In English - but not in German - the relative pronoun is sometimes understood:  "Who was the lady I saw you with last night?"  "The car I bought was on sale." Note that the antecedent and the relative pronoun may be in different cases: