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When a strict bouncer at an exclusive nightclub dictates exactly who gets in and who gets turned away, they might use sentences starting with "Whoever..." or "Whomever...". In German, we form these using **free relative clauses**.

Unlike standard relative clauses that describe a specific noun (like "the man who..."), free relative clauses *are* the noun. They stand completely on their own, essentially acting as headless subjects or objects.

### Starting with "Wer" (Whoever)

To say "Whoever...", use the nominative question word **wer**. Because this forms a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb is kicked to the very end of the phrase.

When the "whoever" clause starts the sentence, that entire clause acts as position one. This means the main clause following the comma must start immediately with its conjugated verb.

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### Linking with Pronouns

If a free relative clause comes first, German often uses a demonstrative pronoun (like **der**, **den**, or **dem**) immediately after the comma to start the main clause. This pronoun is *required* if the person's grammatical role (case) shifts between the two halves of the sentence.

For example, if "whoever" is the subject of the first clause, but the *object* of the main clause:

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### Using "Wen" and "Wem"

If the action inside the "whoever" clause happens *to* the person, change *wer* to match the required case: **wen** (whomever) for accusative, and **wem** for dative.

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In the next example, the first half is dative (because *egal sein* takes a dative object), but the second half is accusative (because *ignorieren* takes a direct object):

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And here, the first half is dative, but the second half is nominative:

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### Free Relative Clauses at the End

You do not always have to put the "whoever" clause at the beginning of the sentence. If the main clause comes first, it acts just like a normal sentence, with the free relative clause tacked onto the end.

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Free relative clauses (wer, wen, wem)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
to decide	entscheiden
Whoever the club belongs to decides everything.	Wem der Club gehört, der entscheidet alles.
Whoever has no money stays outside.	Wer kein Geld hat, bleibt draußen.
the regular guest	der Stammgast
to let in	hereinlassen
Whoever is a regular guest, I let in.	Wer Stammgast ist, den lasse ich herein.
Whomever I know, I always let in.	Wen ich kenne, den lasse ich immer herein.
the dress code	der Dresscode
Whoever the dress code does not matter to stays outside.	Wem der Dresscode egal ist, der bleibt draußen.
the sneaker	der Turnschuh
Whoever wears sneakers does not get into the club today.	Wer Turnschuhe trägt, kommt heute nicht in den Club.
to turn away	abweisen
Whoever wears sneakers, I turn away.	Wer Turnschuhe trägt, den weise ich ab.
Whomever I turn away stays outside, although he is rich.	Wen ich abweise, der bleibt draußen, obwohl er reich ist.
to ignore	ignorieren
Whoever the dress code does not matter to, I ignore.	Wem der Dresscode egal ist, den ignoriere ich.
disrespectful	respektlos
Whomever I ignore is often disrespectful.	Wen ich ignoriere, der ist oft respektlos.
to throw out	hinauswerfen
Whoever is disrespectful, I throw out immediately.	Wer respektlos ist, den werfe ich sofort hinaus.
Whoever argues in the club, I throw out.	Wer im Club streitet, den werfe ich hinaus.
Whoever is a regular guest does not need to wait.	Wer Stammgast ist, braucht nicht zu warten.
the bouncer	der Türsteher
The bouncer decides whom he lets in.	Der Türsteher entscheidet, wen er hereinlässt.
Whoever ignores the bouncer has a problem.	Wer den Türsteher ignoriert, hat ein Problem.
the person (individual)	die Person
Whoever knows this person should say so.	Wer diese Person kennt, soll es sagen.
Four people are sitting at the table.	An dem Tisch sitzen vier Personen.

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