Breakdown of Die Buchhandlung, welche den Roman anbietet, öffnet am zweiten Juni.
öffnen
to open
der Juni
June
am
on the / at the
zweite
second
Questions & Answers about Die Buchhandlung, welche den Roman anbietet, öffnet am zweiten Juni.
Why use welche instead of die for the relative pronoun here?
In this sentence, welche means exactly the same thing as die ("which" or "that"). It is a stylistic alternative used mostly in written or formal German. Writers often use it to avoid repeating die too many times in a single sentence, though here it just gives the sentence a slightly more formal, written tone.
How do we know to use the form welche specifically?
A relative pronoun's gender and number come from the noun it refers to, while its case comes from its role in its own clause. It refers to die Buchhandlung (feminine singular). Inside the relative clause, it acts as the subject doing the offering, so it takes the nominative case. The feminine nominative form of this pronoun is welche.
Why does öffnet come immediately after the comma?
German main clauses strictly require the conjugated verb to be in the second position. The entire phrase Die Buchhandlung, welche den Roman anbietet acts as a single, complex subject (position 1). Therefore, the main verb öffnet must be position 2, placing it right after the comma that closes the relative clause.
Why does the date end in -n (am zweiten Juni)?