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### The Ambiguity Problem

In English, a sentence like "The king met the duke and his son" is ambiguous. Is it the king's son or the duke's son? In standard German, using the regular possessive pronoun (*seinen Sohn*) creates the same confusion, though it usually points back to the subject (the king).

To clarify that the son belongs to the *latter* person mentioned (the duke), German uses the demonstrative possessive pronouns **dessen** and **deren**.

### Masculine and Neuter Owners: dessen

If the "owner" you are pointing back to is a masculine or neuter noun, use **dessen**. This explicitly tells the listener that the item or person belongs to the most recently mentioned masculine or neuter noun, rather than the subject of the sentence.

{{item:886320}}

In the sentence above, *dessen* makes it completely clear that we are talking about the duke's son, not the king's. 

{{item:886337}}

It works exactly the same way when the owner is a neuter noun, such as **das Reich** (the empire):

{{item:886348}}

### Feminine and Plural Owners: deren

When referring back to a feminine or plural owner, use **deren**.

{{item:886321}}

Here, *deren* refers back to the feminine noun *die Königin* (the queen). The exact same word is used when the owners are a plural group:

{{item:886333}}

### No Case Endings

Unlike regular possessive pronouns (like *sein* or *ihr*), which must add endings to match the case and gender of the noun they modify, **dessen** and **deren** never change. They only depend on the gender and number of the *owner*.

Notice how **dessen** stays exactly the same in the following sentence, even though the objects being possessed (*Intrigen*) are plural:

{{item:886324}}

Unambiguous possessives (dessen, deren)

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
the duke	der Herzog
his (referring back to something just mentioned)	dessen
The king met the duke and his son.	Der König traf den Herzog und dessen Sohn.
Did the woman know the queen and her sister?	Kannte die Frau die Königin und deren Schwester?
the throne	der Thron
the intrigue	die Intrige
The prince wanted the throne, however he hated the duke and his intrigues.	Der Prinz wollte den Thron, jedoch hasste er den Herzog und dessen Intrigen.
the reign	die Herrschaft
the heir	der Erbe
to poison	vergiften
The reign was short because the enemy poisoned the king and his heir.	Die Herrschaft war kurz, weil der Feind den König und dessen Erben vergiftete.
to crown	krönen
the succession	die Nachfolge
They crowned the prince, although his succession was dangerous.	Sie krönten den Prinzen, wenngleich dessen Nachfolge gefährlich war.
The aunt warned the queen and her heir.	Die Tante warnte die Königin und deren Erben.
He hated the women and their intrigues because they poisoned the wine.	Er hasste die Frauen und deren Intrigen, weil sie den Wein vergifteten.
The succession was much safer because the king crowned the duke immediately.	Die Nachfolge war viel sicherer, weil der König den Herzog sofort krönte.
Were the revolution and its leaders more powerful than the king?	Waren die Revolution und deren Anführer mächtiger als der König?
He has known the minister and his secret for a year.	Er kennt den Minister und dessen Geheimnis seit einem Jahr.
The duke poisons the king and takes over his throne.	Der Herzog vergiftet den König und übernimmt dessen Thron.
The sister threatens the queen and her reign.	Die Schwester bedroht die Königin und deren Herrschaft.
the historian	der Historiker
The king met the historian and his brother.	Der König traf den Historiker und dessen Bruder.
The queen hates the cousin and her husband.	Die Königin hasst die Cousine und deren Ehemann.
to banish	verbannen
the empire	das Reich
The prince banishes the duke and his son from the empire.	Der Prinz verbannt den Herzog und dessen Sohn aus dem Reich.
The aunt banishes the sister and her daughter, which is a mistake.	Die Tante verbannt die Schwester und deren Tochter, was ein Fehler ist.
What the king really wants is the empire and its money.	Was der König wirklich will, ist das Reich und dessen Geld.
The historian whose book we are reading comes from Germany.	Der Historiker, dessen Buch wir lesen, kommt aus Deutschland.

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