pronoun
which, which one
A1
Interrogative/relative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'which one'. It inflects for gender, case and number (e.g., welcher, welche, welches, welchen, welchem). Use differs by nominative/accusative/dative/genitive and by masculine/feminine/neuter. Often appears in questions and as a relative pronoun in formal contexts.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.EXAMPLES
Die Jury wusste nicht, welcher Kandidat gewonnen hatte, da die Auszählung der Stimmen noch nicht abgeschlossen gewesen war.
The jury did not know which candidate had won because the counting of the votes had not yet been completed.
Welcher von diesen Büchern ist dein Lieblingsbuch?
Which one of these books is your favorite?
Welcher Zug fährt nach Berlin?
Which train goes to Berlin?
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.DETAILS_LABEL
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.MNEMONICS
Picture several objects lined up and you point while saying 'welcher' — a mental image of pointing to one item to pick which.
Sounds like 'well' + 'her' — imagine asking 'well, her?' when choosing someone.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.NOTES
Interrogative pronoun used to ask for selection/identity and agrees in gender, number and case with the noun it refers to (welcher, welche, welches, welchen, etc.). It can function as a determiner (welcher Mann?) or as a pronoun (Welcher ist dein Buch?). Do not confuse with 'was für ein' (what kind of) which asks about type rather than selecting a specific item.