Breakdown of Die Erinnerungen, die wir haben, sind sehr schön.
sein
to be
schön
beautiful
sehr
very
haben
to have
Questions & Answers about Die Erinnerungen, die wir haben, sind sehr schön.
Why do we use die as the relative pronoun in the middle of the sentence?
The relative pronoun die refers back to the plural noun Die Erinnerungen (The memories). It is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object of the relative clause: the memories are what wir haben (we have). Conveniently, the plural relative pronoun is die in both the nominative and accusative cases.
Why is haben placed right before the comma instead of after wir?
The phrase die wir haben is a relative clause, which is a type of subordinate clause. In German, subordinate clauses always push their conjugated verb (like haben) to the very end of the clause.
Are the two die words doing the same job here?
They look identical but play different roles. The first Die is just the normal definite article (the) for the plural noun Erinnerungen. The second die is the relative pronoun (that/which) connecting the main sentence to the extra description.
How does the structure of the main sentence work with the commas?
The main sentence is simply Die Erinnerungen sind sehr schön. The relative clause die wir haben is inserted directly after the noun it describes. Commas act like parentheses here, wrapping the relative clause so the main sentence can safely pause and then pick right back up with its verb sind.