Breakdown of Das ist der Kontakt, dem ich vertraue.
ich
I
sein
to be
vertrauen
to trust
der Kontakt
the contact
Questions & Answers about Das ist der Kontakt, dem ich vertraue.
Why is the relative pronoun dem instead of the accusative den?
The verb vertrauen (to trust) is a 'dative verb', meaning it always requires its object to be in the dative case. Since der Kontakt is a masculine noun, the relative pronoun replacing it must be the masculine dative dem, not the accusative den.
Why does the verb vertraue go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase dem ich vertraue is a relative clause. Relative clauses are a type of dependent clause, and in German, dependent clauses always kick the conjugated verb (in this case, vertraue) to the very end of the phrase.
If dem is the object receiving the trust, why does it come before the subject ich?
A relative pronoun almost always has to come first in its clause to glue it back to the noun it is describing. So even though dem is the object, it must jump to the front of the relative clause, right after the comma.
Why do we start with Das ist instead of Der ist, since Kontakt is masculine?
When pointing something out with 'This is...' or 'That is...', German uses the fixed starting phrase Das ist regardless of the gender of the noun that follows. You only need to worry about the masculine gender for der Kontakt and its matching relative pronoun dem.
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