Left Dislocation in Spoken German
When speaking casually, Germans often use a structure called "left dislocation" (Linksverschiebung) to emphasize a topic.
Instead of putting the topic in its normal place, you move the noun phrase to the very front (the "left") of the sentence. Then, you immediately resume it with a demonstrative pronoun (der, die, das) in the first position of the main clause, followed by the conjugated verb.
It feels a bit like saying "That neighbor, he is inconsiderate" in English, but it is much more common in everyday spoken German.
| This neighbor, he's inconsiderate and totally annoying. | Dieser Nachbar, der ist rücksichtslos und nervt total. |
| The loud bass, it's booming down to us all day. | Der laute Bass, der dröhnt den ganzen Tag zu uns runter. |
Notice how the pronoun matches the gender and number of the noun it replaces.
| The building, it's unfortunately so poorly soundproofed when they stomp upstairs. | Das Gebäude, das ist leider so hellhörig, wenn sie oben trampeln. |
| The property management, they're taking care of the noise disturbance now. | Die Hausverwaltung, die kümmert sich jetzt um die Ruhestörung. |
| The people upstairs, they stomp as if they were completely inconsiderate. | Die Leute oben, die trampeln, als ob sie völlig rücksichtslos wären. |
Matching the Case
The resumptive pronoun also matches the case of the dislocated noun based on its grammatical role in the sentence. For this structure, demonstrative pronouns look exactly like definite articles (except for the dative plural, denen).
If your topic is the direct object, both the dislocated noun and the resumptive pronoun are in the accusative case. If it is the indirect object, both are in the dative case.
| The broomstick, I need it tonight, not the earplugs! | Den Besenstiel, den brauche ich heute Nacht, nicht die Ohrstöpsel! |
| The loud neighbor, we finally warned him last night. | Den lauten Nachbarn, den haben wir gestern Abend endlich gewarnt. |
| This property management, we already told them that it's extremely poorly soundproofed. | Dieser Hausverwaltung, der haben wir schon gesagt, dass es extrem hellhörig ist. |