deren
FromMiddle Dutchdēren, fromOld Dutchderen, fromProto-West Germanic*darjan.
deren
deren
deren (relative or demonstrative)
Among unexercised users of formal standard German, one can frequently read or heardessen whenderen would be correct (or occasionally vice versa), since either of these forms is missing in some vernaculars.
General guidelines forderer vs.deren
When used in a series of nouns,deren refers back to the noun immediately proceeding it. Consider these sentences:
vs.
The first sentence relates that the inviting family has a son; thus, they invite friends and that son. In the second sentence, the family invites their friends and a son of the invited family. Compare this behaviour with Ukrainianсвій and Ukrainian possessive pronouns:
vs.
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | f | n | ||
| nominative | der | die | das | die |
| genitive | dessen | deren derer | dessen | deren derer |
| dative | dem | der | dem | denen |
| accusative | den | die | das | die |
FromOld Dutchderen, fromProto-West Germanic*darjan.
dēren
| infinitive | base form | dēren | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| genitive | dērens | ||||||
| dative | dērene | ||||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||||
| present | past | present | past | ||||
| 1st person singular | dēre | — | dēre | — | |||
| 2nd person singular | dēers,dēres | — | dēers,dēres | — | |||
| 3rd person singular | dēert,dēret | — | dēre | — | |||
| 1st person plural | dēren | — | dēren | — | |||
| 2nd person plural | dēert,dēret | — | dēert,dēret | — | |||
| 3rd person plural | dēren | — | dēren | — | |||
| imperative | |||||||
| singular | dēer,dēre | ||||||
| plural | dēert,dēret | ||||||
| present | past | ||||||
| participle | dērende | — | |||||
Inherited fromOld Englishderian, fromProto-West Germanic*darjan, from*daru(“injury”) +*-jan; bysurface analysis,dere(“harm”) +-en(infinitive suffix).
deren (third-person singular simple presentdereth,present participlederende,derynge,first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participledered)(poetic)
1 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
FromProto-West Germanic*darjan.
deren
| infinitive | deren | |
|---|---|---|
| indicative | present | past |
| 1st person singular | dero,deron | derida |
| 2nd person singular | deris | deridos |
| 3rd person singular | derit | derida |
| 1st person plural | derun | deridon |
| 2nd person plural | derit | deridot |
| 3rd person plural | derunt | deridon |
| subjunctive | present | past |
| 1st person singular | dere | deridi |
| 2nd person singular | deris | deridis |
| 3rd person singular | dere | deridi |
| 1st person plural | derin | deridin |
| 2nd person plural | derit | deridit |
| 3rd person plural | derin | deridin |
| imperative | present | |
| singular | deri | |
| plural | derit | |
| participle | present | past |
| derendi | derit,giderit | |
de +-ren ("forest")
deren