Table of Contents Chapter 23 23.10.3 Exercise 3
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Chapter 23: Relative clauses

  23.10.3 Exercise 3: dass and das


A lot of people, including many, many Germans, mix the conjunction dass with the relative pronoun das. The English only use that, which makes things still more complicated. But if we make clear the function the two words have, the difference should become more clearer.

Compare these two phrases.
He said that he went to school.
  The little boy that always goes to school this way, is in first grade.
  for further clarification see the same sentence with a different relative pronoun:
  The little boy, who always goes to school this way, is in first grade

In the first phrase that is a conjunction that combines two different clauses, in the second phrase it is a relative pronoun. The difference is made also in writing, because the conjunction has ss.

Decide whether there is das or dass in the following phrases:

Exercise
 
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  Er sagt, er dagewesen sei.  
  Das Kind, auf dem Spielplatz spielt, ist hübsch.
  Das Haus, du da drüben siehst, gehört mir.
  Er sorgte dafür, alles funktionierte.
  Sie meinten, es zu spät sei.
  Er trank soviel, er krank wurde.
  Das Bier, er trank, war schlecht.
  Das Auto, er kaufte, war viel zu teuer.
  Es war mir egal, er es mir nicht glaubte.
  Er schrie so laut, alle ihn anschauten.
  Das Buch, ich gerade lese, handelt von der Französischen Revolution.
 
 

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