german_sentence_builder

1. Er lud seine Freunde ein.
a. (nom.)
b. (acc.)
2. Wer hat die Uhr gekauft?
a. (acc.)
b. (dat.)
3. Andreas spielte mit dem Hund.
a. (dat.)
b. (poss.)
4. Alle respektieren die Richterin.
a. (acc.)
b. (dat.)
Wer and der
Was
There is another aspect to relative pronouns. When no specific person is referred to in a sentence,
the pronoun wer is used as a relative pronoun. It is usually paired with der, and the English
meaning of this concept is he, who, or who(so)ever. For example:
He who lies about me is no friend of mine.
Whoever threw that snowball is in a lot of trouble.
Since German declines words like wer and der, this kind of relative pronoun usage can
appear in all the cases:
Wer oft lügt, den respektiert niemand.
Wen die Polizei verhaftet, dem kann man
nicht helfen.
Wem das imponiert, der ist wohl naiv.
Wessen Brot man isst, dessen Lied man
singt.
He who often lies is respected by no one.
No one can help him, whom the police arrest.
Whomever that impresses is probably naive.
If you eat his bread, you must dance to his
tune. (A saying)
You will notice that the declension of wer and der is dependent upon the use of each in its own
clause.
Something similar occurs with was. Use was if it refers to no specific object and can be translated
as that, which, or what(ever). For example:
Was billig ist, ist nicht immer gut.
Was sie sagte war Unsinn.
That which is cheap is not always good.
What(ever) she said was nonsense.
Relative pronouns 55