Learn German: Was für eine Schauspielerin ist das, deren Biografie du kaufst? - What kind of actress is that whose biography you are buying?

Was für eine Schauspielerin ist das, deren Biografie du kaufst?

What kind of actress is that whose biography you are buying?

Breakdown of Was für eine Schauspielerin ist das, deren Biografie du kaufst?

sein

to be

you (informal singular)

Questions & Answers about Was für eine Schauspielerin ist das, deren Biografie du kaufst?

Why do we use deren here instead of dessen?

deren means 'whose' and refers back to the noun before the comma. Because die Schauspielerin (the actress) is feminine, we use the feminine genitive pronoun deren. If we were talking about a male actor (der Schauspieler), we would use the masculine form dessen.

Does deren change its ending depending on its case inside the new clause?

No! The genitive relative pronouns dessen and deren are locked in based solely on the gender of the owner (here, the feminine actress). Even though the phrase deren Biografie acts as the accusative direct object in the second half of the sentence (because you are buying it), the word deren itself does not change.

Why is the verb kaufst at the very end of the sentence?

The comma introduces a relative clause (deren Biografie du kaufst), which is a type of subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the very end.

What is the difference between asking Was für eine and Welche here?

Was für ein (or here, the feminine Was für eine) asks about the type or qualities of something: 'What kind of actress is that?'. If you used Welche Schauspielerin, you would be asking 'Which (specific) actress?' out of a limited group of choices.