German · B1 · Everyday language
People We Trust in German
Talk with your child about trusted people in their school community. Practise describing people with German relative clauses using the dative pronouns dem, der and denen.
What you'll learn
- Describe people who help your child feel safe and supported.
- Use dem, der and denen with verbs that require the dative.
- Place the conjugated verb at the end of a relative clause.
- Talk about helping, thanking, believing and trusting people.
German phrases for people we trust
Ist das der Junge, dem du mit seiner Schultasche geholfen hast?
Is that the boy you helped with his school bag?
Helfen requires the dative: der Junge becomes dem in the relative clause. In the perfect tense, geholfen hast comes at the end.
Das ist das Mädchen, dem du bei den Hausaufgaben geholfen hast.
That is the girl you helped with her homework.
Mädchen is grammatically neuter, so its dative relative pronoun is dem. Bei den Hausaufgaben helfen naturally means to help with homework; whose homework it is is clear from context.
Das sind die Kinder, denen wir beim Sporttraining geholfen haben.
Those are the children we helped during sports practice.
Use denen for a plural group receiving help. Beim is short for bei dem.
Der Trainer, dem du vertraust, leitet heute das Training.
The coach you trust is leading today's training session.
Vertrauen takes the dative. The relative clause describes der Trainer and is enclosed by commas.
Die Lehrerin, der du glaubst, hat die Hausaufgaben noch einmal erklärt.
The teacher you believe has explained the homework again.
This version refers to a female teacher. Glauben takes the dative when you believe someone: der du glaubst.
Die Nachbarn, denen wir vertrauen, bringen dich heute zu Fuß nach Hause.
The neighbours we trust will walk you home today.
Denen refers to the plural die Nachbarn. German often uses the present tense with a time word such as heute for planned future actions.
Der Vater, dem wir gedankt haben, hat deine verschwundene Brotdose gefunden.
The father we thanked found your missing lunchbox.
Danken requires the dative: dem wir gedankt haben. The perfect tense is natural for talking about completed events.
Die Mutter, der du gedankt hast, hat das Treffen zum Spielen organisiert.
The mother you thanked organised the playdate.
Der is the feminine dative relative pronoun. Das Treffen zum Spielen is a natural way to describe a playdate.
Hear these phrases and practise them
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Try it free for 7 daysKey words
die Schultasche
school bag
Plural: die Schultaschen.
die Hausaufgaben
homework
Normally plural in German. Use bei den Hausaufgaben helfen for helping with homework.
der Trainer / die Trainerin
coach
Use dem for a male coach and der for a female coach in these dative relative clauses.
der Nachbar / die Nachbarin
neighbour
Die Nachbarn is the plural used in the phrase; die Nachbarinnen refers specifically to female neighbours.
zu Fuß nach Hause bringen
to walk someone home
Zu Fuß means on foot; nach Hause expresses movement towards home.
die Brotdose
lunchbox
A box for packed food, especially a school snack or lunch. Plural: die Brotdosen.
das Treffen zum Spielen
playdate
Literally, a meeting to play. Zum Spielen explains the purpose of the meeting.
Choosing dem, der or denen
A relative pronoun takes its gender and number from the noun it describes. Its case depends on its role inside the relative clause. With helfen, danken, glauben and vertrauen, the person is in the dative.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | dem | der Junge, dem du hilfst — the boy you help |
| Neuter singular | dem | das Mädchen, dem du hilfst — the girl you help |
| Feminine singular | der | die Mutter, der du dankst — the mother you thank |
| Plural, all genders | denen | die Nachbarn, denen wir vertrauen — the neighbours we trust |
Four verbs that take the dative
Learn these verbs together with jemandem, meaning someone in the dative. Jemandem glauben means to believe what someone says; jemandem vertrauen means to trust someone.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Help | jemandem helfen | Wir helfen den Kindern. — We help the children. |
| Thank | jemandem danken | Du dankst der Mutter. — You thank the mother. |
| Believe | jemandem glauben | Du glaubst der Lehrerin. — You believe the teacher. |
| Trust | jemandem vertrauen | Du vertraust dem Trainer. — You trust the coach. |
Relative-clause word order and commas
Unlike English, German cannot leave out the relative pronoun. Separate the relative clause with commas and put its conjugated verb at the end. In the perfect tense, the past participle comes directly before the final auxiliary verb.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present tense | relative pronoun + subject + conjugated verb | Das ist der Trainer, dem du vertraust. |
| Perfect tense | relative pronoun + subject + other information + past participle + haben | Das ist der Junge, dem du mit seiner Schultasche geholfen hast. |
| Relative clause inside a main clause | noun + comma + relative clause + comma + rest of main clause | Die Nachbarn, denen wir vertrauen, bringen dich nach Hause. |
More examples
Ist das die Trainerin, der du vertraust?
Is that the coach you trust?
For a female coach, use die Trainerin with the dative relative pronoun der.
Das ist der Lehrer, dem ich glaube.
That is the teacher I believe.
For a male teacher, use der Lehrer with dem. Ich glaube means I believe.
Die Kinder, denen wir geholfen haben, spielen jetzt zusammen.
The children we helped are playing together now.
The plural relative pronoun is denen. The main clause continues after the second comma.