Lesson 93 · German A1-2

der-Words: jeder, welcher, dieser

Jeder, welcher, dieser

A small family of words - "every," "which," "this" - that decline exactly like der/die/das from Lesson 4. Once you know the der/die/das pattern, these three are almost free: same endings, new meanings.

Today's win: use jeder/welcher/dieser correctly by mapping them directly onto the der/die/das endings you already know.

Same endings as der/die/das

Genderder/die/dasjeder (every)welcher (which)dieser (this)
masculinederjederwelcherdieser
femininediejedewelchediese
neuterdasjedeswelchesdieses

Accusative masculine still shifts the same way it does for der→den (Lesson 7): jeden, welchen, diesen.

In context

Jeder Tag ist anders. (Every day is different.)
Welche Wohnung gefällt dir? (Which apartment do you like? - reusing Lesson 18's gefallen)
Diese Straße ist ruhig. (This street is quiet.)

welcher as a question word

welcher/welche/welches works exactly like Lesson 5's question words (wo, was, wann) but agrees in gender with the noun it asks about - a small extra layer that wo/was/wann don't have, since those don't attach to a noun directly.

Try it out loud: ask "welche/welcher/welches ... gefällt dir?" about something real (an apartment, a city, a color), then answer using "dieser/diese/dieses."

Quick recall check

1. "Every day" (masculine, der Tag) - ______ Tag.

Show answer
Jeder

2. "Which apartment?" (feminine, die Wohnung) - ______ Wohnung?

Show answer
Welche

3. "This street" (feminine, die Straße) - ______ Straße.

Show answer
Diese

4. Which der/die/das pattern do jeder/welcher/dieser copy?

Show answer
the definite article

5. Masculine accusative form of "dieser" (this)?

Show answer
diesen

Primary source

Cross-checked against the Goethe-Institut A1 practice materials.

Unsure of the ending for jeder/welcher/dieser in a specific sentence? Ask your teaching agent.