In formal writing and literature, you will sometimes see the relative pronouns welcher, welche, and welches used instead of der, die, and das. They mean exactly the same thing ("who," "which," or "that") and follow the same rule: the relative clause sends the conjugated verb to the very end.
Writers typically use these forms as a stylistic choice to avoid repetition—for instance, to prevent having the definite article das sit right next to the relative pronoun das.
Here are their forms for the nominative and accusative cases. Notice that they take similar endings to the standard articles (-er, -e, -es).
| Gender / Plural | Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | welcher | welchen |
| Feminine | welche | welche |
| Neuter | welches | welches |
| Plural | welche | welche |
Nominative Relative Clauses
The relative pronoun must match the gender of the noun it refers back to. When the pronoun is the subject of its own clause, use the nominative forms.
For a neuter noun like das Manuskript, use welches:
| The manuscript, which is very long, has many errors. | Das Manuskript, welches sehr lang ist, hat viele Fehler. |
For a masculine noun like der Autor, use welcher:
| The author, who needs the correction, is calling the publisher. | Der Autor, welcher die Korrektur braucht, ruft den Verlag an. |
For a feminine noun like die Zeile, use welche:
| We have to delete the line which is wrong. | Wir müssen die Zeile löschen, welche falsch ist. |
Accusative Relative Clauses
If the relative pronoun acts as the direct object inside the relative clause, it takes the accusative case. Just like with standard articles, only the masculine form changes (from welcher to welchen).
| The bestseller, which everyone is reading, is exciting. | Der Bestseller, welchen alle lesen, ist spannend. |
Feminine and neuter relative pronouns look the same in both cases:
| The book, which we are publishing today, is important. | Das Buch, welches wir heute veröffentlichen, ist wichtig. |
| The publication, which we are publishing today, is a bestseller. | Die Publikation, welche wir heute veröffentlichen, ist ein Bestseller. |