Breakdown of Das Lektorat, welches den Text prüft, arbeitet schnell.
schnell
fast, quickly
arbeiten
to work
prüfen
to check / to test
der Text
the lines / the text
welcher
which (welcher, welche, welches, welchen, welchem...)
das Lektorat
the editorial department
Questions & Answers about Das Lektorat, welches den Text prüft, arbeitet schnell.
Why use welches instead of the relative pronoun das here?
welches is a formal, written alternative to the standard relative pronoun das. It means exactly the same thing in this context. Writers often use welcher, welche, or welches to sound more elevated or to avoid repeating der, die, or das too many times in a single sentence.
Why is the relative pronoun in the neuter nominative form (welches)?
Like all relative pronouns, it takes its gender from the noun it refers back to: das Lektorat is neuter. Its case is determined by its job in the relative clause. Here, the editorial department is the one doing the checking (prüft), so it acts as the subject (nominative case).
Would it be natural to say this sentence out loud using welches?
Not usually. While grammatically correct, using welches as a relative pronoun in everyday speech sounds very stiff and overly formal. If you were talking to a colleague, you would almost certainly use das instead: Das Lektorat, das den Text prüft, arbeitet schnell.
What exactly is das Lektorat?
das Lektorat refers specifically to the editorial department, copy-editing team, or proofreading service. A person doing this job is called der Lektor or die Lektorin. If you wanted to talk about a publishing house as a whole business, you would use the word der Verlag.
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