Breakdown of Wir geben Waisenhäusern und deren Kindern finanzielle Hilfe.
das Kind
the child
und
and
wir
we
geben
to give
die Hilfe
the help
deren
their (referring back to something just mentioned)
das Waisenhaus
the orphanage
finanziell
financial
Questions & Answers about Wir geben Waisenhäusern und deren Kindern finanzielle Hilfe.
Why is deren used here instead of derer?
deren and derer are both genitive plural demonstrative pronouns, but they are used differently. We use deren when it refers back to something mentioned earlier in the sentence (here, the Waisenhäusern). derer is used when pointing forward to something coming later, usually followed by a relative clause (for example, "the help of those who...").
Could I just say ihren instead of deren?
Yes, you could technically say und ihren Kindern. However, using the demonstrative deren makes the reference crystal clear and slightly more emphatic. It explicitly means "the children of those (orphanages)" rather than a general "their". At the B2 level, using deren instead of ihre/ihren is a great way to make your German sound more precise and native-like.
Why do Waisenhäusern and Kindern both end in an -n?
They are both in the dative plural because they are the indirect receivers of the help. In German, dative plural nouns almost always add an extra -n or -en to the end of their standard plural form, unless the plural already ends in -n or -s. So, the plural die Waisenhäuser becomes den Waisenhäusern, and die Kinder becomes den Kindern.
Why does the direct object (finanzielle Hilfe) come after the indirect objects?
German has a strict word order rule for objects: if both the indirect object (the receivers, here Waisenhäusern und deren Kindern) and the direct object (the thing being given, here finanzielle Hilfe) are regular nouns, the dative indirect object almost always comes before the accusative direct object.
Learn Wir geben Waisenhäusern und deren Kindern finanzielle Hilfe 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