Breakdown of Hier ist das Kabel, von dem du mir erzählt hast.
sein
to be
du
you (informal singular)
hier
here
haben
to have
erzählen
to tell
mir
me / to me (dative)
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
dem
whom / which (dative relative pronoun; forms: dem, der, denen)
das Kabel
the cable
Questions & Answers about Hier ist das Kabel, von dem du mir erzählt hast.
Why do we use von dem here instead of just das?
In English, you can drop the relative pronoun (the cable you told me about) or put the preposition at the end. German does not allow this. The preposition von belongs with the verb erzählen (to tell about), and in a relative clause, the preposition and its relative pronoun must stay together at the very beginning of the clause as von dem.
Why is the relative pronoun dem? Isn't das Kabel neuter?
Yes, das Kabel is neuter, so the relative pronoun starts out as das. However, the case of the relative pronoun depends on its grammatical role inside the relative clause. Because it immediately follows the preposition von, which always requires the dative case, the neuter das changes to the dative dem.
Could I use wovon here instead of von dem?
No. You use words like wovon when referring to an abstract idea, an entire previous sentence, or an indefinite word like etwas or alles. Because you are referring to a specific, physical noun (das Kabel), you must use the preposition plus the standard relative pronoun (von dem).
Why does the helper verb hast go at the very end, even after erzählt?
The section starting with von dem is a relative clause, which follows the exact same word order rules as a regular subordinate clause. This means the conjugated verb (hast) gets pushed to the absolute end of the sentence, landing after the past participle erzählt.
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