Breakdown of Der Kommissar sucht den Mann, der die Waffe hat.
der Mann
the man
haben
to have
suchen
to look for
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Der Kommissar sucht den Mann, der die Waffe hat.
Why does the second part start with der when we just said den Mann?
The relative pronoun der (who) refers back to den Mann, but it has its own job in the new clause. Even though den Mann is in the accusative case (because he is the object being looked for), the pronoun der is the subject of the second part (he is the one who has the weapon). Because it is the subject, it must be in the nominative case.
Why is the verb hat at the very end of the sentence?
The part of the sentence starting with der is a relative clause. In German, relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause, which means they always push the conjugated verb (like hat) to the very end of the phrase.
Is the comma before der required?
Yes! In English, commas before words like 'who' or 'that' are sometimes optional, but German has a strict rule: relative clauses must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.
Does Kommissar mean commissioner?
It can, but in the context of the German police, a Kommissar usually translates to an inspector or detective. It is a very common word in crime shows!