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Ich möchte wieder in dem Gasthaus einen Kaffee trinken, in _____ wir samstags immer gegangen sind.

I think it is das because the antecedent is dem Gasthaus which original form is das Gasthaus. So it translates to "which we always went (into) on Saturdays"?
Is my reasoning correct?

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    "das" sounds good, though I am not sure about your reasoning. I believe it depends on the last part of the sentence. Compare for instance with the following sentence: Ich möchte wieder in dem Gasthaus einen Kaffee trinken, in dem wir uns getroffen haben.
    – user1583209
    Nov 21, 2016 at 21:08
  • What about..... Das ist doch der, ___ wir im Hauptseminar kennen gelernt haben, nicht?.... is it den?
    – Gabriel Roncal
    Nov 21, 2016 at 21:20
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    Yes, "den". So taking a second look at these three examples, aren't these just Akkusativ ("Wohin sind wir samstags immer gegangen?"), Dativ ("Wo haben wir uns getroffen?") and another Akkusativ ("Wen haben wir getroffen?")
    – user1583209
    Nov 21, 2016 at 21:36
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    @user1583209, I also sometimes do it, but please don't answer questions in comments.
    – Carsten S
    Nov 21, 2016 at 23:32
  • yep, "das" is correct. cant tell you why, though :)
    – Alex
    Nov 22, 2016 at 8:24

2 Answers 2

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Yes, das is correct here.

The gender and number (plural/singular) is determined by the word to which the relative pronoun relates. The case is determined by the way the relative pronoun is used in the sentence.

In your example das is in the 4. case (accusative) because it answers “In welches Kaffee sind wir samstags immer gegangen?”.

If we used Bar the sentence would have to be like

Ich möchte wieder in der Bar einen Kaffee trinken, in die wir samstags immer gegangen sind.

because Bar is feminin.

If the relative clause made use of the relative pronoun as subject, it had to be in the 1. case of course. E.g.

Ich möchte wieder in dem Gasthaus einen Kaffee trinken, das so bequeme Sessel hat.

It makes no difference whether you use welcher/welche/welches or die/der/das as relative pronoun. welcher/welche/welches is probably regarded as more refined language but modern style guides recommend to prefer die/der/das.

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The actually grammatically correct word to use here is "welches":

Ich möchte wieder in dem Gasthaus einen Kaffee trinken, in welches wir samstags immer gegangen sind.

However, you can replace it with "das", as that is allowed, since it has the right form; "welches" makes it more clear that you mean "das Gasthaus".

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    How is "welches" more clear than "das" here? How could one misunderstand the sentence with "das"?
    – user1583209
    Nov 22, 2016 at 11:39

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