Relative clause (die, dat, waar + prepositie, prepositie + wie)

The relative clause follows after a noun. The relative clause gives extra information about the noun.

In the examples below, the noun is underlined and the relative clause is italic. The bold word is the connector.

die for de woorden (de jas)

dat for het woorden (het meisje)

waar + prepositie for objecten met een prepositie.

prepositie + wie for personen met een prepositie.

wat for nouns that stand for something undefined, like iets and niets.

waar for places.

So, also when you make a relative clause about a person, you have to know whether it's a de or het word. Look:

If there the noun is the object of a prepositional verb, you use prepositie + wie:

For things, you'll have to use waar + preposition:

The verbs come at the end of the relative clause, since it is a subordinate clause. Interested in Dutch word order? Take a look at Dutch Word Order in a Nutshell.

Really want to practice? Take a look at our PDF about the relative clause.