Breakdown of Der Besucher, den ich kenne, kauft alle neuen Exemplare.
ich
I
kaufen
to buy
alle
all, everyone
neu
new
kennen
to know (somebody/something)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Besucher
the visitor
das Exemplar
the copy (specimen, of a publication)
Questions & Answers about Der Besucher, den ich kenne, kauft alle neuen Exemplare.
Why does the adjective neuen end in -en after alle?
In the plural, the word alle (all) acts like a definite plural article (like die). Because alle already shows the grammatical case, the adjective following it takes the weak ending, which is always -en in the plural. Contrast this with words like viele (many) or einige (some), which don't act like definite articles and instead trigger the strong ending -e (e.g., viele neue Exemplare).
Why is the relative pronoun den used here instead of der?
A relative pronoun matches the gender of the noun it describes (Der Besucher, which is masculine) but takes its case from its grammatical role inside the relative clause. Here, the pronoun is the direct object of the verb kenne (I know him), so it must be in the accusative case, making it den.
Why is the verb kenne at the very end of its clause?
The phrase den ich kenne is a relative clause. In German, relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb is always pushed to the very end of that specific clause.
Are the commas around den ich kenne strictly necessary?
Yes! In English, we sometimes leave out commas around clauses starting with who, whom, or that, but German has a strict punctuation rule: relative clauses must always be separated from the main sentence by commas.
Learn Der Besucher, den ich kenne, kauft alle neuen Exemplare and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free