Relative pronoun - Betrekkelijk voornaamwoord

Click here for self-correcting exercises on relative pronouns.
Relative pronouns are used to refer back to people or things. Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The form of the relative pronoun is dependent on the gender of the noun it qualifies. If it is a de-word, the relative pronoun is die. If it is a het-word, the relative pronoun is dat. Plurals are, of course, de-words.

 

Hanna heeft een broer (de-word) die met zijn vrouw en dochtertjes in België woont.
Hanna has a brother who lives in Belgium with his wife and little daughters.

Luuk is het jongetje (het-word) dat in de dierentuin is kwijtgeraakt.
Luuk is the little boy who got lost in the zoo.

 

Note that when the noun you are referring to is an inanimate object and is accompanied by a preposition linked to a verb (a so-called phrasal verb), a relative pronominal adverb is used instead. Compare:

relative pronoun relative pronominal adverb
De pen die op tafel ligt ... . *De pen die ik met schrijf ... .
De pen waar ik mee schrijf ... . [schrijven met]
The pen which is lying on the table ... .

The pen which I am writing with.

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Click here to read more about relative pronouns in the Advanced Dutch Grammar.