Word
Der Kommissar beobachtet den Dieb, der einen schwarzen Mantel trägt.
Meaning
The inspector observes the thief who is wearing a black coat.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Kommissar beobachtet den Dieb, der einen schwarzen Mantel trägt.
ein
a, an (eine)
tragen
to carry, to wear
der Mantel
the coat
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Der Kommissar beobachtet den Dieb, der einen schwarzen Mantel trägt.
Why do we use the relative pronoun der when it refers back to den Dieb?
A relative pronoun takes its gender from the noun it describes (masculine), but its case comes from its job in its own clause. In the main sentence, the thief is the object being observed (den Dieb, accusative). But in the relative clause, the thief is the subject doing the wearing (der, nominative).
Why is the verb trägt at the very end of the sentence?
The part of the sentence starting with der is a relative clause. Relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause, and in German, subordinate clauses always kick the conjugated verb to the very end.
Why does the adjective have an -en ending in einen schwarzen Mantel?
Mantel (coat) is a masculine noun. In the relative clause, the coat is the direct object (the thing being worn), which puts it in the accusative case. When a masculine noun is in the accusative case after an ein-word, the adjective gets an -en ending.
Is the comma before der required?
Yes. Unlike in English, where commas before words like who or that are sometimes optional, German strictly requires a comma to separate the main sentence from a relative clause.