Die Schokolade, die ich kaufe, kommt aus dem Supermarkt.

to come

Breakdown of Die Schokolade, die ich kaufe, kommt aus dem Supermarkt.

• ich: I
• kaufen: to buy
• aus: from

Questions & Answers about Die Schokolade, die ich kaufe, kommt aus dem Supermarkt.

Why are there two die in the sentence and what does each one do?

The first die is the definite article for Schokolade (feminine singular, nominative) and tells us we’re talking about the chocolate. The second die is a relative pronoun referring back to Schokolade. It’s also feminine singular nominative because it’s the subject of the relative clause die ich kaufe (“that I buy”).

How do I know that the relative pronoun die is in the nominative rather than the accusative?

You look at its role in the relative clause die ich kaufe. In that clause, die is the one doing the action “buy.” Since it’s the subject of kaufe, it must be nominative. If it were the object (“whom/which I buy”), it would be accusative (die would still look the same here, but in masculine/neuter it would change: den/​das).

Why is kommt in second position, but kaufe at the end?

German main clauses are “verb-second,” so kommt (the finite verb) follows the first constituent (Die Schokolade, die ich kaufe,). Relative clauses are subordinate clauses, and German subordinate clauses are “verb-final,” so the finite verb kaufe goes to the very end of die ich kaufe.

Why do we say aus dem Supermarkt instead of aus den Supermarkt or ?