Breakdown of Die Tante verbannt die Schwester und deren Tochter, was ein Fehler ist.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
und
and
die Schwester
the sister
die Tochter
the daughter
der Fehler
the mistake
die Tante
the aunt
was
which (referring to a whole clause)
deren
their (referring back to something just mentioned)
verbannen
to banish
Questions & Answers about Die Tante verbannt die Schwester und deren Tochter, was ein Fehler ist.
Why is deren used here instead of ihre?
If the sentence used ihre, it would be ambiguous: it could mean the aunt's daughter or the sister's daughter. By using the demonstrative possessive pronoun deren, the sentence explicitly points to the most recently mentioned person, die Schwester. This makes it completely clear that it is the sister's daughter being banished.
Why is the pronoun deren and not dessen?
The choice between dessen and deren depends on the gender and number of the possessor. Because it refers back to die Schwester, which is feminine singular, we use deren. If the possessor were a masculine or neuter noun, we would use dessen.
Why does the sentence use was instead of a regular relative pronoun like das?
When a relative pronoun refers back to an entire previous clause or concept rather than a specific noun, you must use was. Here, was refers to the whole event of the aunt banishing them, not to the daughter or the sister.
Is verbannt a separable verb?
No, verbannen is inseparable. The prefix ver- is an inseparable prefix in German, meaning it stays attached to the verb regardless of sentence position. Because it is inseparable, the verb also does not take a -ge- prefix in the past participle form.
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