Relative Clauses (die, dat)
Relative Clauses (die, dat)
Dutch relative pronouns follow the de/het split you already know: die for de-words, dat for het-words. And unlike English, the relative pronoun can never be left out — 'the book I read' must become het boek dat ik las.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
die for de-words and all plurals, dat for het-words
de man die daar staat / het boek dat ik las
the man who is standing there / the book I read
Dutch does not distinguish 'who' from 'which' or 'that' — the choice depends only on the gender of the noun being described. de vrouw die, de mannen die, het huis dat, het kind dat. Since every plural is a de-word, die covers all plurals regardless of the singular's gender. As with other subordinate clauses, the verb moves to the end of the relative clause.
The relative pronoun is never optional
het boek dat ik gelezen heb
the book I read
English routinely drops the relative pronoun when it is the object of the clause: 'the book I read', 'the man I saw'. Dutch has no such option — dat and die must be present in every relative clause, in every position. Omitting them is one of the most immediately noticeable English-influenced errors in written Dutch.
After prepositions: waar- for things, wie for people
de stoel waarop hij zit / de man met wie ik sprak
the chair he's sitting on / the man I spoke with
When the relative pronoun would follow a preposition, Dutch switches forms. For things, the preposition fuses with waar-: waarop, waarmee, waarover — and in speech the two halves usually split, with the preposition drifting to the end (de stoel waar hij op zit). For people, the preposition simply takes wie: met wie, aan wie, over wie. English can strand the preposition at the end in both cases, so Dutch demands a structural decision English does not.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- who / which / that (de-words)
- English
- which / that (het-words)
- English
- who (after a preposition)
- English
- what / which
- English
- on which
- English
- with which
- English
- everything I know
- English
- the man standing there
- English
- the house I'm buying
- English
- something I'm looking for
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