In previous lessons, you learned how to use relative pronouns like der, die, and das to refer back to specific nouns. But what if you want to refer to a general location, an indefinite idea like "everything", or an entire sentence? For these situations, we use the indefinite relative pronouns wo and was.
As with all relative clauses, remember that the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end of the clause.
Relative clauses for places: wo
When referring back to a physical location or general spatial words like überall (everywhere), da (there), or dort (there), use the relative pronoun wo (where).
You can also use it to refer to general landscapes or settings, just as you would use "where" in English:
Relative clauses for indefinite concepts: was
When a relative clause describes an indefinite idea rather than a specific noun, use was (that / what). You will always use was after words like:
- alles (everything)
- nichts (nothing)
- etwas (something)
Referring to a whole clause: was
Sometimes, a relative clause doesn't just describe a single word, but rather comments on the entire previous sentence. In English, we usually use "which" for this. In German, use was.
In the sentence above, was doesn't refer just to the ocean, but to the entire fact that the ocean is very deep.