Right Dislocation

Level 5

Right Dislocation (Rechtsversetzung) is a conversational strategy where you use a pronoun in the main sentence and then 'spell out' the specific noun at the very end (the Nachfeld) to clarify who or what you are talking about.

How It Works

Right Dislocation is a hallmark of informal, spoken German. It serves as a discourse-structuring tool rather than a simple mistake or repair. Unlike an 'afterthought,' which usually has a pause and its own stress, Right Dislocation is typically integrated into the sentence's flow with a lower pitch.

Key Rules:

  • Givenness: This structure is only used for referents already established in the discourse. You cannot use Right Dislocation to introduce a new topic; the listener must already know what you are referring to.
  • Case Matching: The dislocated noun must be in the same case as the resumptive pronoun. If the pronoun is Accusative, the noun must be Accusative.
  • Position and Punctuation: The noun appears in the Nachfeld, which is the space after the final verb in the sentence bracket. In writing, the dislocated element must be set off by a comma.
  • Pronouns: While Left Dislocation usually uses d-pronouns (der, die, das), Right Dislocation frequently uses personal pronouns like er, sie, es, ihn, ihm, etc.

This pattern is very common in daily life but should be avoided in formal writing, where it can appear clumsy or overly colloquial.

Examples (4)

  1. Ich habe ihn gestern gesehen, deinen Bruder.

    I saw him yesterday, your brother.

    Word by Word: I have him yesterday seen, your brother.

    Here, 'ihn' is accusative, so 'deinen Bruder' must also be in the accusative case.

  2. Die ist echt nett, die neue Kollegin.

    She is really nice, the new colleague.

    Word by Word: The (she) is really nice, the new colleague.

    A d-pronoun 'die' is used as the subject, followed by the clarifying noun phrase in the nominative.

  3. Hast du ihm schon gedankt, dem Onkel?

    Have you thanked him yet, the uncle?

    Word by Word: Have you him already thanked, the uncle?

    The verb 'danken' requires the dative case. Therefore, both the pronoun 'ihm' and the noun 'dem Onkel' are dative.

  4. Wir haben sie endlich gefunden, die Schlüssel.

    We finally found them, the keys.

    Word by Word: We have them finally found, the keys.

    The plural pronoun 'sie' (accusative) is clarified by 'die Schlüssel' at the end.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative case for the dislocated noun regardless of the pronoun's case.

    Ich habe ihn gesehen, dein Bruder.
    Ich habe ihn gesehen, deinen Bruder.

    The noun at the end must match the case of the pronoun. Since 'ihn' is accusative, 'dein Bruder' must become 'deinen Bruder'.

  • Using Right Dislocation in formal writing.

    Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, wir haben ihn sorgfältig geprüft, den Vertrag.
    Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, wir haben den Vertrag sorgfältig geprüft.

    Right dislocation is a feature of spoken language. In formal letters or essays, it is considered poor style.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Right DislocationLevel 5

Learn This First

To understand right dislocation, you need to be comfortable with basic German sentence structure and personal pronouns. This pattern involves using a pronoun within the main sentence (like 'sie') and then clarifying who or what that pronoun refers to at the very end of the sentence (like 'meine Schwester').