Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
welcher. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
welcher, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
welcher in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
welcher you have here. The definition of the word
welcher will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
welcher, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
welch + -er
Pronunciation
Noun
welcher (plural welchers)
- One who welches.
- (British, offensive slang) A Welshman or person of Welsh descent.
Translations
Translations
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Finnish: maksamatta jättäjä
- French: please add this translation if you can
- German: Spitzbube (de) m (dated), Gauner (de) m, Zechpreller (de) m, Schwindler (de) m
- Russian: please add this translation if you can
- Spanish: please add this translation if you can
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
|
German
Etymology
From Middle High German welich, from Old High German welih, wilih, from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz. Compare English which.
Pronunciation
Determiner
welcher
- (interrogative) which; what
Welche Farbe hat dein Kleid?- What colour is your dress?
Welches Buch in diesem Regal hast du am öftesten gelesen?- Which book on this shelf have you read most often?
- (relative, literary) which
Er vergaß, die letzte Kugel aus dem Lauf zu nehmen, welcher Fehler ihn das Leben kosten würde.- He forgot to remove the last bullet from the barrel, a mistake which would cost him his life.
Pronoun
welcher
- (interrogative) which (one)
Hier sind zwei Jacken, welche ist deine?- There are two jackets here, which one is yours?
- (relative, literary) that; which; who; whom
Der Mann, welchen sie als ihren Nachbarn erkannte, lag tot auf dem Bürgersteig.- The man, whom she recognized to be her neighbour, was lying dead on the pavement.
Usage notes
- When used as an interrogative determiner, some speakers may consider welcher rather formal and may use was für instead, e.g. Was für eine Farbe hat dein Kleid? instead of Welche Farbe hat dein Kleid?
- When welcher isn't used as a determiner followed directly by a noun (Welche Farbe ist deine Lieblingsfarbe?) and is directly followed by the verb sein, it is mostly used in neutral form welches for all genders and plural (Welches ist deine Lieblingsfarbe?). When it agrees with the gender and number, it is usually meant as one from a number of given options (Welche (von diesen) ist deine Lieblingsfarbe?)
- Welcher as a relative pronoun is virtually never used in the vernacular. It occurs more often in literary German, but overusing it is a typical trait of a pretentious style (generally corrected by editors). The normal relative pronoun in all registers of German is der and its forms.
- Welcher and its forms may be used avoid a doubled word. For example
- Das Lied, welches das Kind vortrug, wurde vor langer Zeit geschrieben.
- avoids das das. The welches version would still not be preferred in general though.
- German does not distinguish between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses and relies solely on context to determine which is meant. (See the usage notes at which.) Thus der and its forms are still preferred when English prefers "which":
Paul schenkt sein Auto, das noch neu ist, seiner Tochter.- Paul is giving his car, which is still new, to his daughter.
Declension
References
Further reading