A2 · elementary · 19/21 #DIESER-WELCHER

This and which (dieser / welcher)

Artikelwörter

Words that stand before a noun to point at it or ask about it: dieser, welcher, jeder, mancher.

The words behind “this car” and “which car” change their endings exactly like der/die/das do.

Contents

Right now: if you know der/die/das, you already know these

Shortcutdieser (this), welcher (which), jeder (every) and mancher (some) are called the der-words, because they change their endings exactly like der, die, das. Whatever the article of the noun is, that is how the word ends.

dieser · diese · dieses this (pointing) DIESER MANN · DIESE FRAU
welcher · welche · welches which (question) WELCHER MANN? · WELCHES AUTO?
jeder · jede · jedes every (with singular nouns) JEDER TAG · JEDES KIND

Welcher Wein ist gut?

Which wine is good?

Ich nehme diesen Wein.

I’ll take this wine.

Jedes Kind spielt gern.

Every child likes to play.

English never changes this word — German does

In English the pointing word is fixed (“this car”, “I like this car”). In German the word in front of the noun (dieser) swallows the article’s ending and changes with it.

English	German	Logic
This man	dieser Mann	der → dieser
This man (object)	diesen Mann	den → diesen
Which car?	welches Auto?	das → welches

As you can see, the last letters of der/den/das stick to the pointing and question words.

Ich kenne dieser Mann.

I know this man.

Ich kenne diesen Mann.

I know this man.

Table: how the der-words change

These words change exactly like the definite article (der/die/das).

Kasus	Maskulinum (der)	Femininum (die)	Neutrum (das)	Plural (die)
Nom (subject)	dieser	diese	dieses	diese
Akk (direct object)	diesen	diese	dieses	diese
Dat (indirect object)	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen

welcher, jeder, mancher, solcher change by exactly this table (by their last letters) too.

In welches Haus wohnst du?

Which house do you live in?

In welchem Haus wohnst du?

Which house do you live in?

The one place people go wrong: welcher vs was für ein

Trap 1

Which and what kind of

— Welches Auto kaufst du?

Which car are you buying? (from a known set of options)

— Ich kaufe dieses Auto.

This car (pointing at it).

— Was für ein Auto kaufst du?

What kind of car are you buying? (asking about type or quality)

— Ich kaufe ein schnelles Auto.

A fast car (naming a type).

If the options are known (one of two pens on the table), use welcher. If you are asking about a type or a quality, use was für ein.

Practice now

What you just learned

Ich möchte ___ Pullover (der).
Show the answer
diesen — kaufen/möchten take the Akkusativ. der Pullover -> diesen Pullover.
Was für ein Auto ist das? — Dieses Auto. — this dialogue is correct.
Show the answer
False. A “Was für ein” (what kind of) question is answered with a quality (e.g. ein schnelles Auto). To answer “Dieses”, the question has to be “welches”.
___ Mantel gehört dir?
Show the answer
Welcher. der Mantel (coat) is in the Nominativ. der → welcher.

The part nobody tells you: der da instead of dieser

In writing, dieser and jener (that) are used a lot. In speech, though, Germans usually prefer to say simply der da (the one there) instead.

Möchten Sie diesen Apfel?

Would you like this apple? (formal/written)

Möchtest du den da?

Do you want that one? (everyday speech)

In daily life, when you point at something, it is very common to add da (there) or hier (here) next to the article.

06Build

Build the sentence yourself

Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.

tap the words
tap the words
tap the words

Tips

Know this before the test

The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.

The der-words change like the article
dieser, welcher, jeder take the last letters of der/die/das and change with them.
der Mann → dieser Mann, das Kind → welches Kind
welcher asks which one, was für ein asks what kind
Use welcher when choosing from known options, and was für ein when asking about a general quality or type.
Welches Auto? (This one or that one?) / Was für ein Auto? (Sports car or family car?)

Was für ein Auto ist deins? — Dieses Auto.
Welches Auto ist deins? — Dieses Auto.
If the answer points at one specific thing (dieses), the question has to be welcher (which).
Ich nehme diese Apfel.
Ich nehme diesen Apfel.
Apfel is a der-noun. nehmen takes the Akkusativ (den Apfel). That is why it must be diesen.

0607:20

Test yourself

Tap an answer — we will look at why together.

Mantel gehört dir?

Which coat is yours?

Welcher. der Mantel (coat) is in the Nominativ. der → welcher.

Ich möchte Mantel kaufen.

I’d like to buy this coat.

diesen. kaufen takes the Akkusativ (den Mantel). den → diesen.

Mit Auto fährst du?

Which car are you driving in?

welchem. The preposition mit takes the Dativ (dem Auto). dem → welchem.

Tasche ist neu?

Which bag is new?

Welche. die Tasche is in the Nominativ. die → welche.

— Musik magst du? — Ich mag Rockmusik.

What kind of music do you like?

Was für. The question is about a genre of music, so the was für pattern is used. Musik is uncountable, so it takes no ein: Was für Musik magst du? Was für ein and Welcher do not fit feminine die Musik.

— Kleid soll ich anziehen? — Das rote.

Which dress should I wear? — The red one.

Welches. The question is about choosing from known options, so welcher is used (das Kleid → welches).

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Worksheet

dieser and welcher worksheet

This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.

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If this clicked, go here next

#IKI-NESNE→

Verbs with two objects

geben · zeigen · schenken

Some German verbs take two objects, one answering “to whom?” (dative) and one answering “what?” (accusative): geben, zeigen, schenken.

The A2 path · step 20 / 21

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