Breakdown of Dasjenige, was der Nutzer schreibt, löschen wir sofort.
wir
we
schreiben
to write
sofort
immediately
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Nutzer
the user
löschen
to delete
was
which (referring to a whole clause)
dasjenige
the one (n)
Questions & Answers about Dasjenige, was der Nutzer schreibt, löschen wir sofort.
What exactly does Dasjenige do in this sentence?
Dasjenige is a demonstrative pronoun that means 'that one' or 'the thing.' It strongly points forward to the relative clause that follows (was der Nutzer schreibt). While you could just use Das here, Dasjenige puts a much stronger emphasis on the specific thing being described.
Why do we use was instead of das for the relative pronoun?
Normally, a neuter relative pronoun is das. However, after certain indefinite or demonstrative neuter pronouns like alles (everything), etwas (something), and dasjenige (that which), German requires was instead of das to introduce the relative clause.
What case is Dasjenige in here?
It is in the accusative case. If you strip away the relative clause, the main sentence is Dasjenige löschen wir sofort (We delete that immediately). Wir is the subject, and Dasjenige is the direct object receiving the action of the deleting. For neuter words, the nominative and accusative forms are exactly the same.
Why does the verb löschen come immediately after the comma?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must be in the second position. The entire chunk Dasjenige, was der Nutzer schreibt acts as one single unit (the direct object) in the first position. Because that whole block takes up position one, the verb löschen must immediately follow it in position two, which pushes the subject wir to the other side of the verb.
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