Chapter 16: Relative Clauses (Die/Dat)

Introduction: Adding Extra Information About Nouns

Relative clauses (betrekkelijke bijzinnen) provide extra information about a noun mentioned previously in the sentence (the antecedent). They function like adjectives but are clauses with their own subject and verb.

In English, they often start with "who," "which," "that," or sometimes nothing.

"The man who lives next door is friendly."
"The book that I bought yesterday is interesting."
"The coffee (that) I drank was hot."

In Dutch, relative clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns die or dat. They are subordinate clauses, so the verb goes to the end.

Choosing Between `die` and `dat`

The choice depends on the gender and number of the noun (antecedent) the clause refers back to:

die: Use for:

De-words (singular): Nouns that take de as their definite article.
de man, de vrouw, de tafel, de fiets
Plural nouns (both de-words and het-words): All nouns in the plural.
de mannen, de vrouwen, de tafels, de fietsen, de huizen, de boeken

dat: Use for:

Het-words (singular): Nouns that take het as their definite article.
het huis, het boek, het meisje, het kind

Mnemonic: Think: DE goes with DIE, HET goes with DAT. (And plural always uses die).

Structure of Relative Clauses

Structure: Main Clause mentioning Noun + , + die/dat + (Subject/Object/Rest of relative clause) + Verb(s) at End

The relative pronoun (die/dat) often acts as the subject or object within the relative clause.
Remember the verb-at-the-end rule for subordinate clauses!

Examples

Referring to a De-word (Singular):
De man die daar woont, is mijn buurman.
(The man who lives there is my neighbor.)
Antecedent: de man (de-word) -> die.
die is the subject of woont. Verb woont is at the end.
Ik heb de fiets gekocht die je wilde verkopen.
(I bought the bike that you wanted to sell.)
Antecedent: de fiets (de-word) -> die.
die is the object of wilde verkopen. Finite verb wilde is last.

Referring to a Het-word (Singular):
Het huis dat ik wil kopen, is erg duur.
(The house that I want to buy is very expensive.)
Antecedent: het huis (het-word) -> dat.
dat is the object of wil kopen. Finite verb wil is last.
Het meisje dat daar speelt, is mijn dochter.
(The girl who is playing there is my daughter.)
Antecedent: het meisje (het-word) -> dat.
dat is the subject of speelt. Verb speelt is at the end.

Referring to Plural Nouns:
De boeken die op tafel liggen, zijn interessant.
(The books that are lying on the table are interesting.)
Antecedent: de boeken (plural) -> die.
die is the subject of liggen. Verb liggen is at the end.
De kinderen die buiten spelen, maken veel lawaai.
(The children who are playing outside make a lot of noise.)
Antecedent: de kinderen (plural) -> die.
die is the subject of spelen. Verb spelen is at the end.

Prepositions in Relative Clauses

When the relative pronoun is linked to a preposition (e.g., the man with whom I spoke, the chair on which I sat), Dutch often uses waar + preposition or preposition + wie (for people).

waar + preposition (for things):
De stoel waarop ik zit, is oud. (The chair on which I am sitting is old.) - op de stoel
Het huis waarin wij wonen, is groot. (The house in which we live is big.) - in het huis
preposition + wie (for people - more formal):
De man met wie ik sprak, was aardig. (The man with whom I spoke was nice.) - met de man
De vrouw aan wie ik de brief gaf, werkt hier. (The woman to whom I gave the letter works here.) - aan de vrouw

A2 Focus: Recognize waar + prep. The prep + wie structure is less critical for active use at this level but good to recognize.