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Breakdown of Die Familie, die mich abholt, wohnt nah am Flughafen.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
wohnen
to live
mich
me
abholen
to pick up
die Familie
the family
an
at
nah
close
der Flughafen
the airport
die
that
Questions & Answers about Die Familie, die mich abholt, wohnt nah am Flughafen.
What is the purpose of the subordinate clause die mich abholt?
It’s a defining relative clause (restrictive clause). It specifies exactly which family we’re talking about: the one that picks me up. Without it, we'd just know about a family in general, not this particular one.
Why is there a comma before die and after abholt?
In German, all subordinate clauses—including relative clauses—are set off by commas. The comma before die marks the start of the relative clause, and the comma after abholt marks its end.
What is the function of die in die mich abholt?
Here, die is a relative pronoun referring back to Familie (which is feminine singular). Since it’s the subject of the relative clause, it takes the nominative case.
Why is the verb abholt at the end of the clause?
German subordinate clauses follow verb‑final word order, meaning the finite verb goes to the end of the clause.
Why is the object pronoun mich used instead of mir?
The verb abholen takes a direct object (you pick someone up), so it requires the accusative case. Therefore we use mich (accusative), not mir (dative).
Why is the main verb wohnt placed after the relative clause and not immediately after Familie?
In a German main clause, the finite verb must be in second position. The entire phrase “Die Familie, die mich abholt” counts as the first position, so wohnt comes right after that whole chunk.
Why do we say nah am Flughafen instead of nahe Flughafen or nahe dem Flughafen?
nah is used adverbially here and pairs with the preposition an for locations. an + dem contracts to am. You could also say in der Nähe des Flughafens, but nah am Flughafen is more colloquial and concise.
Why does an take the dative case in am Flughafen?
German prepositions like an take dative for location (answering “where?”) and accusative for direction or movement (answering “where to?”). Since this sentence describes where the family lives (a static location), we use the dative.
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“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
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