A1
The V2-rule
Let’s start with a simple sentence:
Du bist eine Kartoffel.
You are a potato.
Du is the subject, bist is the conjugated verb (sein – to be) and eine Kartoffel is an object. Subject – Verb – Object is natural in English. Could it be otherwise in German? Yes:
Eine Kartoffel bist du.
A potato you are.
Object – Verb – Subject. This sound very unnatural in English (except in Star Wars). In German this would make sense in few situations that we won’t get into now. The only strict rule at this point is the following:
Rule: in main declarative clauses, the conjugated verb occupies the second position.
Every word in this sentence matter. First, we’re talking about declarative sentences, i.e. sentences that make a statement (such as “You are a potato”). This rule doesn’t involve interrogative and imperative sentences.
Main clause means that this clause, i.e. this part of the sentence, could work as sentence by itself. This is in opposition to a subordinate clause (such as “When I was a potato”), which cannot be a full sentence in itself.
A conjugated verb, in German, means verbs conjugated in the Present tense, the Preterit (Präteritum), and the two Subjunctives (Konjunktiv I and II). Verbs in the Infinitive or Past Participle forms are not considered conjugated.
Last but not least, second position doesn’t mean the second word in the sentence. If the subject is made of two words, the verb will be after the entire subject:
Der Apfel ist ein Obst.
The Appel is a fruit.
Here the subject (Der Apfel) sits in the first position, the conjugated verb (ist) occupies the second position, and the object (ein Obst) is in third. Second position is meant in the sense of groups of words forming blocks such as the subject, objects, adverbial phrases etc.
Subject not in first position
Since we’re mentioning adverbial phrases, let’s add a temporal adverb to add some context:
Heute bin ich eine Kartoffel.
Today I am a potato.
As an English speaker it’s tempting to say “Heute ich bin eine Kartoffel”, but it would be incorrect (even if you were a potato). The verb has to stay in the second position. Could another word order while keeping Heute and bin in position 1 and 2 work?
Heute bin eine Kartoffel ich.
Today a potato I am.
That wouldn’t be grammatically incorrect, but it would sound off in most situations. Hence the following guide to help you:
Guidance: if the subject doesn’t sit in first position, it usually sits early in the clause, i.e. right after the verb in main clauses.
Now let’s compare the two following sentences:
Heute bin ich eine Kartoffel.
Today I am a potato.
Ich bin heute eine Kartoffel.
I’m a potato I am.
Both are equally grammatically correct. The job of the first position is to provide context and continuity, especially when writing a paragraph or during a dialogue. The first position is not the most important part or the emphasized part of the sentence. What matters most in German sentences usually sit at the end of the sentence.
Preterit
Let’s say you want to say something in the past using the Preterit tense (Präteritum), would that change anything so far? No:
Gestern war sie eine Kartoffel.
Yesterday she was a potato.
In the Preterit, the word order is the same as in the present: the conjugated verb goes second.
Modal verbs
German has six modal verbs: können, wollen, sollen, mögen, müssen, dürfen. When using a modal verb, the modal verb is conjugated, while the second verb is at the infinitive:
Du kannst essen.
You can eat.
As mentioned above, the conjugated verb sits in second position, an honor here reserved for the modal verb. What about the verb in the infinitive? Let’s add an object:
Du kannst eine Kartoffel essen.
You can eat a potato.
First, the verb in the infinitive goes at the end of the clause, after the objects and adverbial phrases. It’s tempting to say instead “Du kannst essen eine Kartoffel”, but that would be incorrect. Not off, just wrong.
Second: yes, we’ll mention potatoes a lot. Let’s look at other examples:
Er will eine Kartoffel sein.
He wants to be a potato.
Sie dürfen Kartoffeln haben.
They may have potatoes.
Which brings us to the following rule:
Rule: when a modal verb is used, the verb in the infinitive goes at the end of the sentence (or clause).
Separable Verbs
German has verbs that can be separated into two parts: the separable particle (or prefix) and the stem. I won’t go into the details of separable verbs, and will only cover how separable verbs behave in terms of word order.
When a separable verb is conjugated, the stem part sits in Position 2, while the separable particle goes at the end of the clause. Here is an example with ankommen (to arrive):
Ich komme an.
I arrive.
If I add an object, the separable particle goes at the end (einladen = to invite):
Ich lade eine Kartoffel ein.
I invite a potato.
This is similar to English expressions such as “I turn the volume down”.
Rule: when a separable verb is used, the stem conjugated goes in the second position and the separable particle goes at the end of the sentence (or clause).
Combination of Modal and Separable Verbs
As you have noticed, two things go at the end of a sentence (or clause) no matter what: the verb in the infinitive when using a modal verb, and the separable particle when using a separable verb. What happens when using both? What if I want to invite a potato? Let’s try this example:
Ich will eine Kartoffel einladen.
I want to invite a potato.
In that case, the conjugated verb (wollen – to want) goes second as usual, and the verb in the infinitive goes at the end as usual. The separable verb is not conjugated, hence the separable particle stays with the stem.
Perfect
We’ve mentioned the Preterit above. As a fellow Indo-European language, German has multiple past tenses, including the Perfect (Perfekt). It is made of an auxiliary verb (haben – to have and sein – to be) and a past participle. Since the auxiliary verb is conjugated, it is the one to occupy the second position:
Ich habe gegessen.
I have eaten.
They have arrived.
Sie sind angekommen.
Let’s add an object or an adverbial phrase:
Ich habe Kartoffeln gegessen.
I have eaten potatoes.
Sie sind früh angekommen.
They have arrived early.
The past participle (Partizip II) goes last in the sentence, after the objects and adverbial phrases. It’s tempting to say “Ich habe gegessen Kartoffeln” or “Sie sind angekommen früh”, but that would be false. Here is the rule:
Rule: when a verb is conjugated in the perfect tense, the auxiliary verb stays in the second position and the Past Participle goes at the end of the sentence (or clause).
Combination of Modal and Perfect
Once again, many things tend to be at the end of the sentence in German. What if I want to use a modal verb in the past? A perfect version of modal verbs exist, but it’s unnecessary to know about it before level C1. For now, if you want to use a modal verb in the past, use the Preterit version of modal verbs:
Sie mussten Kartoffeln essen.
They had to eat potatoes.
Sie wollten früh ankommen.
They wanted to arrive early.
Combination of Separable Verbs and Perfect
What happens if one wants to use a separable verb in the Perfect? As mentioned above, the auxiliary verb is the one being conjugated. The separable verb will be under its Past Participle form, hence the separable particle stays with the stem:
Sie haben eine Kartoffel eingeladen.
They invited a potato.
Note the formation of the Past participle of the separable verb:
separable particle + Past participle of the stem verb.
Open Questions
So far we’ve touched only declarative sentences, i.e. sentences that make a statement. As in other languages, the word order changes when asking a question. We’ll first cover open questions (the ones starting with a word in W-) and then cover the Yes-No questions.
Let’s say I have an appointment with my potato-friend and I want to know where it is:
Wo bist du?
Where are you?
So far the word order hasn’t changed: the conjugated verb sits in second position. Let’s add an object:
Warum isst du eine Kartoffel?
Why do you eat a potato?
(The potato in question isn’t my friend). As you can see, the word order in an open question is the same as in a declarative sentence. Which brings us to the following rule:
Rule: in a direct question beginning with a word in W-, the conjugated verb goes in second position.
Note that combining an open question with other tools mentioned above do not impact this rule:
Was willst du kaufen?
What do you want to buy?
Wann hast du gearbeitet?
When have you worked?
Wann stehst du auf?
When do you get up?
Wann warst du dort?
When were you there?
Closed, Yes-No questions
Now let’s look at closed, Yes-No question. My potato-friend is in a café on its computer. I want to know if it’s really working:
Arbeitest du hier?
Do you work here?
Damn, a massive change. The verb isn’t in the second position anymore. What a bummer. Anyway, that’s the rule:
Rule: in a direct Yes-No question, the conjugated verb goes in the first position.
We said earlier that if the subject wasn’t in the first position, it would usually sits in the third position, right after the conjugated verb. In a closed question, it still usually sits after the verb, this time in position 2:
Guidance: in a direct Yes-No question, the subject usually goes in second position.
This is still the case when combining a closed question with modal verbs, separable verbs and other tenses:
Willst du einen Film sehen?
Do you want to watch a film?
Fängst du heute an?
Do you start today?
Bist du nach Hause gegangen?
Have you gone home?
Hattet ihr ein Problem?
Did you have a problem?
Coordinating Conjunctions und, oder, aber and denn
So far all the sentences we’ve used were made of a single clause. We can use coordinating conjunctions such as und (and), oder (or), aber (but) and denn (because, for) to link the first clause to a new clause:
Er spielt am Nachmittag und er liest am Abend.
He plays in the afternoon and he reads in the evening.
Wir fahren nach Berlin oder wir bleiben hier.
We go to Berlin or we stay here.
Wir wohnen in Berlin, aber wir arbeiten in Potsdam.
We live in Berlin, but we work in Potsdam.
Sie bleibt zu Hause, denn sie ist krank.
She's staying home because she's sick.
You can notice two things. First, I’ve calmed down with potatoes. Second, the coordinating conjunctions introduces a new clause where the word order is the same as in the first clause. In other words, these coordinating conjunctions connect two main clauses. This is also the case when adding modal verbs, separable verbs and other tenses:
Er muss früh kommen, denn er will mit uns essen.
He must come early because he wants to eat with us.
Ich stehe früh auf und ich komme pünktlich an.
I get up early and arrive on time.
Ich habe heute gearbeitet und ich habe viel gelernt.
I worked today and I learned a lot.
Note that if the subject is the same in the first and second clause, it doesn’t need to be repeated:
Er spielt im Park oder liest zu Hause.
He plays in the park or reads at home.
Ich arbeite heute und lerne am Abend.
I work today and study in the evening.
To summarize:
Rule: coordinating conjunctions such as und, oder, aber, and denn start a new main clause in which the conjugated verb is in second position.
Rule: when using a coordinating conjunctions, if the subject in the next clause is the same, it can be omitted and the conjugated verb goes directly after the conjunction.
Position of Nicht
So far all the statements we’ve came across were affirmations. What if you want to negate something?
In German, nicht is adverb that can be used to negate one part of the sentence. It is placed before the part being negated:
Das Essen ist nicht gut.
The food is not good.
Ich arbeite nicht im Büro.
I do not work in the office.
Wir gehen nicht morgen.
We are not going tomorrow.
What if you want to negate the whole sentence, or to negate the verb? In English, if you want to negate a verb, not sits right after the verb (He doesn’t like potatoes, She isn’t starchy). As you may have supposed, in German, if a verb or the entire sentence has to be negated (which is overall the same), nicht goes at the end of the sentence.
Morgen komme ich nicht.
Tomorrow I am not coming.
Zu Hause esse ich nicht.
I do not eat at home.
How does nicht behave in combination with modal verbs, separable verbs, and other tense? It goes at the end with a lower priority than verbs at the infinitive, separable particles, and past participle, i.e. it sits right before them:
Er muss morgen nicht kommen.
He does not have to come tomorrow.
Du rufst deine Mutter nicht an.
You do not call your mother.
Ich habe das Buch nicht gelesen.
I have not read the book.
Which brings us to the following rule:
Rule: the adverb nicht goes before what it negates. If it negates an entire sentence (or clause), it goes at the end of the sentence, right before verbs in the infinitive, separable particles and past participles.
Simple Comparisons
I will not go too much into the details of German comparison here. I’ll simply explain how they fit in terms of word order.
There are two types of comparisons: equal comparisons (You are as potatoey as me) and unequal comparisons (They are potatoier then us). Let’s look at examples in German:
Der Park ist so schön wie der Garten.
The park is as beautiful as the garden.
Das Auto ist schneller als das Fahrrad.
The car is faster than the bike.
As you can see, so goes before the adjective, wie goes after the adjective, and then goes the reference (der Garten). For unequal comparisons, als goes after the comparative adjective (schneller) and then goes the reference (das Fahrrad).
What happens if we use more complex structures such as modal verbs, separable verbs and other tenses? We look at that at level A2. For now, the two following rules are sufficient:
Rule: in a comparison, so goes before the adjective, and wie goes after it and before the reference.
Rule: in a comparison, als goes between the adjective and the reference.
Imperative
I don’t think the Imperative should be taught as early as A1, but most textbooks do so here we are.
As in English, the conjugated verb at the imperative goes first:
Trink Wasser!
Drink water!
When using the polite third person, the pronoun Sie goes right after:
Gehen Sie nach Hause!
Go home!
The imperative cannot be used with modal verbs nor with the perfect tense. It can be used with separable verbs. In that case, the separable particle goes at the end of the sentence, as usual:
Wach jetzt auf!
Wake up now!
A2
Subordinating Conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction is a word or phrase that introduce a subordinate clause, i.e. a clause that cannot be a full sentence in itself. For instance “when I was a kid” and “that I gave you” are subordinate clause: they only make sense when connected to a main clause.
The subordinating conjunctions that are usually encountered at level A2 are weil (because), dass (that), wenn (when, if) and als (when for singular event in the past). Let’s look at examples:
Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil es stark regnet.
I stay at home because it is raining heavily.
Ich hoffe, dass du mich bald besuchst.
I hope that you visit me soon.
Ich gehe joggen, wenn ich Zeit habe.
I go jogging when I have time.
Als ich ein Kind war, hatte ich einen Hund.
When I was a child, I had a dog.
In English and romance languages, verbs in subordinate clauses are conjugated in the subjunctive, which emphasizes the subordinate nature of the clause. In German, this emphasis is done by putting the conjugated verb at the end of the sentence.
Before going further, let’s look again at the example with als:
Als ich ein Kind war, hatte ich einen Hund.
When I was a child, I had a dog.
As you can see, there are two conjugated verbs next to each other: “… war, hatte …”. This is because the entire clause “Als ich ein Kind war” is, in the context of the main clause, just one element, in the same fashion as “gestern” or “am Abend”. “Als ich ein Kind war” sits in Position 1, and the conjugated verb in the main clause (hatte) must sit in position 2.
Consequently, you can get situations where the same conjugated verb sits on both side of the comma:
Als ich ein Kind war, war ich keine Kartoffel.
When I was a kid, I wasn’t a potato.
Als ich eine Kartoffel hatte, hatte ich großes Glück.
When I had a potato, I had a lot of luck.
The “war, war” and “hatte, hatte” will definitely sound weird at first, but you’ll get used to it with a lot of practice.
Since we’re – again – throwing an element at the end of a german clause, you’re wondering what happens when a modal verb, a separable verb or the perfect is used in a subordinating clause. Let’s look at examples:
Er kann nicht kommen, weil er arbeiten muss.
He can't come because he has to work.
Er sagt, dass seine Schwester gestern angekommen ist.
He says that his sister arrived yesterday.
Ich kann dir nicht helfen, weil ich gerade fernsehe.
I can’t help you because I’m watching TV.
The conjugated verb goes after verbs at the infinitive, past participle and separable particles. Furthermore, the conjugated separable verb is reunited with its separable particle. Isn’t it cute? This cuteness brings us to the following rule:
Rule: when a clause begins with a subordinating conjunction, the conjugated verb goes at the very end of the clause, after verbs in the infinitive, past participles and separable particles.
Reflexive Pronouns
German has reflexive verbs, i.e. verbs where whose object is the same as its subject. They are accompanied by a reflexive pronoun:
Du erinnerst dich an den Film.
You remember the film.
Er interessiert sich für Geschichte.
He is interested in history.
Wir treffen uns am Abend.
We meet each other in the evening.
Here dich, sich and uns are reflexive pronouns. There isn’t a strict rule on their position, but since they are necessary and do not carry any additional information that isn’t in the subject, they usually sit early in the sentence. In a main clause where the subject is in position 1, the reflexive pronoun will usually sit in position 3. In a main clause where the subject is already in position 3 and in subordinate clause, the reflexive pronoun will sit directly after the subject:
Am Wochenende ruhst du dich aus.
You rest on the weekend.
Er lernt Deutsch, weil er sich für Deutschland interessiert.
He learns German because he is interested in Germany.
Du hast gesehen, dass wir uns im Park getroffen haben.
You saw that we met in the park.
There are exceptions, and they aren’t useful to be taught before level C1. Hence the following guidance:
Guidance: reflexive pronouns usually sit early in the sentence, either right after the conjugated reflexive verb (in main clauses where the subject occupies position 1) or right after the subject (other cases).
Accusative and Dative Objects
Some verbs, called ditransitive, can have two objects: an accusative and a dative. I won’t go through the differences between the two cases now, and will focus instead on where they are placed in German sentences. Let’s look at examples:
Ich erzähle meinen Freunden eine Geschichte.
I tell my friends a story / I tell a story to my friend.
Du zeigst deinem Vater das Auto.
You show your father the car / You show the car to your father.
Er verkauft seinem Nachbarn ein Fahrrad.
He sells a bicycle to his neighbor / He sells his neighbor a bicycle.
In the examples above, the part in italic is the dative object, while the part in bold is the accusative object. Most of the time, the most important part (and object) is the accusative one, while the dative object provides context. As we’ve seen earlier, important information tend to be at the end of German sentences. Hence:
Guidance: accusative objects are usually located after dative objects.
This is the most neutral way to write sentences involving a dative and an accusative object. Once you become at ease with German sentence and you want to emphasize the person to whom your selling a bike, you’ll then be free to not follow this guidance. In the meanwhile, I’d advise to follow it.
Indirect Open Questions
At level A1 we’ve looked at Direct Open Questions such as “Where is my potato?” (Wo ist meine Kartoffel). What if the question becomes indirect, such as “I don’t know where I’ve put my potato?”:
Ich weiß nicht, wo ich meine Kartoffel gelegt habe.
I don’t know where I’ve put my potato.
When a W-word such as Wo, Wann, Warum, or Wer is used in a direct question, the verb goes in second position. When such a word is used in an indirect question, it becomes a subordinate conjunction, which pushes the conjugated verb at the end of the sentence. This is consistent with the fact that the word order in an indirect question also changes in English: “What are you doing today” becomes “He asks what you are doing today”. “what you are doing today” doesn’t work as a sentence by itself, and is therefore a subordinate clause.
zu + Infinitive
In English, when a modal verb is used, the infinitive follows alone: “I can cook a potato”. If a non-modal verb is used, to is added and precedes the infinitive verb: “I plan to cook a potato”.
German works similarly (vorhaben = to plan, to have something planned):
Ich habe vor, eine Kartoffel zu kochen.
I plan to cook a potato.
The verb at the infinitive, in combination with zu, sits at the end of the sentence:
Rule: when the infinitive is used without a modal verb, it creates a subordinate clause that ends with zu + infinitive.
More complex cases (in combination with modal verbs, separable verbs and other tenses) will be explored at level B1 and B2.
Comparisons with modal verbs, separable verbs and the perfect tense
We already seen that so … wie and als are used to construct equal and unequal comparisons. Let’s explore how to use them with modal verbs, separable verbs and the perfect tense:
Ich kann so schnell laufen wie mein Bruder.
I can run as fast as my brother.
Ich rufe dich so oft an wie meine Mutter.
I call you as often as my mother.
Ihr habt euch schneller angemeldet als wir.
You registered faster than we did.
Weird right? You’d expect the verb in the infinitive, the separable particle and past participle to be at the end. (At least I did.) But they don’t. The reason is, each of these example is a contraction:
Ich kann so schnell laufen, wie mein Bruder laufen kann.
I can run as fast as my brother can run.
Ich rufe dich so oft an, wie ich meine Mutter anrufe.
I call you as often as I call my mom.
Ihr habt euch schneller angemeldet, als wir uns angemeldet haben.
You registered faster than we registered.
In the full sentences, both wie and als are subordinate conjunctions, which therefore sit after the main sentence. In many languages, including German, the repeated elements are omitted. Once they are, the comma that separates the main clause from the subordinate clause is also left out, which gives the impression that there is only one long clause.
There is additional way to understand the position of als and wie. When one says “I can run as fast as my brother”, you’re comparing the something (I) with a reference (my brother) using a … (the capacity to run as fast as). The reference sits after the … This is the same in german: something (Ich) is compared to a reference (mein Bruder) using a … (kann so schnell laufen). Wie separates the entire … and the reference.
We can now update the rules from A1:
Rule: in a comparison, so goes before the adjective, and wie goes after it and before the reference. If the reference is compared to an entire clause, wie goes after that clause.
Rule: in a comparison, als goes between the adjective and the reference. If the reference is compared to an entire clause, als goes after that clause.
B1
Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
As mentioned earlier, German is a good Indo-European boy and duplicates its past tenses. The past tense corresponding to the Present tense is the Perfect. The equivalent for the Preterit is the Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt).
The Past Perfect is formed using the preterit form of an auxiliary verb (sein or haben) and the Past Participle (Partizip II). Since the conjugated and non-conjugated verbs are the same, the word order is the same as for the Perfect:
Als wir am Bahnhof ankamen, hatte der Zug schon verlassen.
By the time we arrived at the station, the train had already left.
Sie war erleichtert, weil sie die Prüfung schon bestanden hatte.
She was relieved because she had already passed the exam.
Combinations of Coordinating Conjunctions, Subordinating Conjunctions, and Adverbs
We’ve already seen how a sentence introduced by a Coordinating Conjunction (und, aber etc.) a Subordinating Conjunction (weil, dass etc.) and an Adverb (deshalb, vorher etc.) functions. What if a combination of connectors are used? Let’s look at examples:
Wir gehen ins Kino, und danach essen wir in einem Restaurant.
We are going to the cinema, and after that, we will eat in a restaurant.
Ich fahre gerne Ski, aber wenn es stark regnet, macht es nicht so viel Spaß.
I like to ski, but when it rains heavily, it’s not as fun.
Er kommt später, besonders weil er noch arbeiten muss.
He’ll be late, mainly because he still has to work.
There is nothing new in the first sentence: und introduces a new main clause, danach occupies the first position, and the verb sits in position 2.
The second and third examples are more interesting: subordinating conjunctions are dominant compared to adverbs and coordinating conjunctions. Even though the new clauses begins with aber and besonders, the word order is set by the subordinating conjunctions (wenn and weil), i.e. the conjugated verb goes at the end. Note that a coordinating conjunction inside a subordinate clause affect this:
Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil es heute regnet und ich müde bin.
I’m staying home because it’s raining today and I’m tired.
Rule: a subordinating conjunction set the word order of a clause, even in the presence of other grammatical features such as coordinating conjunctions and adverbs.
zu + Infinitive with separable verbs
When using an infinitive verb without a modal, the infinitive is preceded by zu:
Ich habe vor, eine Kartoffel zu kochen.
I plan to cook a potato.
Since the separable verb is reunited when using a modal and in a subordinate clause, one should expect the stem and the separable particle to be cutely reunited, right? Right??? Not quite:
Ich habe vor, eine Kartoffel einzuladen.
I plan to invite a potato.
The separable particle and the stem are separated by zu, acting as a third wheel.
Infinitive Construction with zu
German can spice infinitive constructions with zu by adding what would otherwise be a preposition:
Ich lerne jeden Tag, um Deutsch zu verbessern.
I study every day in order to improve my German.
Sie hat sich für die Reise entschieden, anstatt zu Hause zu bleiben.
She decided to travel instead of staying at home.
Er ging, ohne die Rechnung zu bezahlen.
He left without paying.
This “infinitive clause introducer” (um, ohne, anstatt) is placed at the beginning of the infinitive clause.
Rule: infinitive clause introducer um, ohne and anstatt are placed at the beginning of infinite clauses.
Future tense
In many cases, using the present tense with a temporal phrase such as morgen, nächste Woche or in drei Monaten is sufficient to describe something in the future:
Morgen trinke ich Kaffee.
I drink coffee tomorrow.
If one wants to make the use of the future clearer, the verb werden can be used as a modal (similar to will in English) to form the Future tense I:
Nächste Woche werde ich den Salsa-Kurs ausprobieren.
Next week I will try the salsa course.
Ich trinke keinen Alkohol, weil ich einen Marathon laufen werde.
I don’t drink because I will do a marathon.
As for other modal verbs, the verb in the infinitive goes at end of the sentence.
Rule: the future tense is formed by conjugating the verb werden as a modal and leaving other verbs in the infinitive at the end of the clause.
Passive with werden
In German, statements in the passive formed are emphasized as passive by using the auxiliary verb werden. Similar to the perfect form, the additional verb is written in the Past participle (Partizip II) and is left at the end of the sentence:
Kartoffeln werden von wütenden Äpfeln verbrannt.
Potatoes are burned by angry apples.
Ich habe gehört, dass der Brief von einem anonymen Beschwerdeführer verschickt wurde.
I’ve heard that the letter was sent by an anonymous complainer.
How do you know if werden is used to indicate the future or the passive? First, the verb at the end of the clause is in the infinitive for the use of the future, and in the past participle form when using the passive form.
Second, the context will give a lot of information as well: a journalist describing a past event, especially in combination with prepositions von and durch, will more likely use the passive werden, while a CEO describing his company’s strategy will more likely use the future werden.
Rule: the passive can be formed by conjugating the verb werden as an auxiliary verb and leaving the other verb in its past participle form at the end of the clause.
Relative clauses
Let’s look at two uses of that in English:
I think that potatoes are delicious.
The potato that I find the most delicious is in my stomach.
The first that is used to link the verb think with an entire clause (Potatoes are delicious) as an object. It is translated as dass in German.
The second that is used to link a noun (potato) to a subordinate clause that relates to that noun (I find the most delicious). Which or Who could be used as well instead of that.
English makes a small difference between objects and persons grammatically, but doesn’t change based on the gender and case anymore. Therefore, that is sufficient in most cases, except for possessions, in which case whose is used.
In German, articles and pronouns change based on the gender and case of the object or person they refer to. Here are examples in the Nominative case:
Der Mann, der hier steht, ist mein Lehrer.
The man standing here is my teacher.
Die Frau, die dort sitzt, ist meine Mutter.
The woman sitting there is my mother.
Das Kind, das lacht, ist glücklich.
The child who laughs is happy.
Die Kinder, die laut lachen, sind fröhlich.
Children who laugh loudly are happy.
Here are examples in the Accusative case:
Der Mann, den ich gestern gesehen habe, kennst dich.
The man I saw yesterday knows you.
Die Frau, die ich getroffen habe, war freundlich.
The woman I met was friendly.
Das Buch, das er liest, gehört mir.
The book he is reading belongs to me.
Die Kinder, die wir gesehen haben, sind laut.
The children we saw are loud.
Now for the Dative examples:
Der Mann, dem ich geholfen habe, ist dankbar.
The man I helped is grateful.
Die Frau, der ich das Buch gegeben habe, lacht.
The woman I gave the book to laughs.
Das Kind, dem ich eine Geschichte erzählt habe, hört zu.
The child to whom I told a story listens.
Die Freunde, denen wir geschrieben haben, kommen morgen.
The friends we wrote to are coming tomorrow.
An finally the Genitive version:
Der Mann, dessen Haus verkauft wurde, ist traurig.
The man whose house was sold is sad.
Die Frau, deren Katze verschwunden ist, sucht sie.
The woman whose cat went missing is looking for her.
Das Auto, dessen Besitzer ich kenne, ist alt.
The car whose owner I know is old.
Die Kinder, deren Spielsachen kaputt sind, weinen.
The children whose toys are broken cry.
These relative clauses are subordinate clauses, and are subjected to the same word order rules: the conjugated goes at the very end, preceded by an eventual past participle or an infinitive. The only change is about the relative pronoun used to refer to the noun, which has to start the relative clause.
In the cases written above, the relative clauses relate to the subject, and in the referential of the main clause, they are part of the subject. Thus, these relative clauses are followed by the conjugated verb of the main clause, which has to sit in position 2.
Relative clauses with prepositions
Relative pronouns are sometimes not enough to describe the relationship described in the relative clause, in English as well as in German:
Die Stadt, in der ich wohne, ist wunderschön.
The city in which I live is beautiful.
Der Kollege, an den ich mich wende, braucht einen Kaffee.
To colleague to whom I write is in need of a coffee.
As in English, the preposition is placed before the relative pronoun.
Rule: a relative clause starts with an eventual preposition, is followed by the relative pronoun, and is tailed by the rest of the sentence, which is subjugated to the same rules as subordinate clauses.
Comparisons with als and wie introducing a new clause
As we’ve seen at level A2, als and wie are placed at the end of a clause, even after verbs in the infinitive, past participles and separable particles:
Ich rufe dich so oft an wie meine Mutter.
I call you as often as my mother.
Ihr habt euch schneller angemeldet als wir.
You registered faster than we did.
The main reason is, both these sentences are contractions of the following sentences:
Ich rufe dich so oft an, wie ich meine Mutter anrufe.
I call you as often as I call my mom.
Ihr habt euch schneller angemeldet, als wir uns angemeldet haben.
You registered faster than we registered.
This extended form allow us to create sentences where the reference is an entire, different, subordinate clause:
Der Test war schwieriger, als ich erwartet habe.
The test was more difficult than I expected.
He drives just as fast as it was planned.
Er fährt genauso schnell, wie es im Plan steht.
Rule: wie and als can introduce a subordinate clause to create a comparison with a main clause.
Je …, umso …
To introduce a proportional relationship with two comparative adjectives such as “The more, the merrier”, the two conjunctions je and umso can be used:
Je mehr du lernst, umso besser wirst du die Sprache verstehen.
The more you study, the better you will understand the language.
Umso can be replaced by desto to produce the same meaning:
Je kälter es draußen ist, desto wärmer ziehe ich mich an.
The colder it is outside, the wärmer I dress.
As you can see, the clause starting in je is a subordinate clause (conjugated verb at the end), while the clause starting in umso (desto) is a main clause (conjugated verb in position 2).
Rule: when using je … umso …, the clause starting in je is a subordinate clause (conjugated verb at the end), while the clause starting in umso (desto) is a main clause (conjugated verb in position 2).
Multiple Adverbial Phrases & TeKaMoLo
From B1-level onward, students need to use multiple adverbial phrases in each sentence. The order of each adverbial phrase depends a lot on the context and what needs to be emphasized.
One guidance taught early at B2 level is the TeKaMoLo “rule”: if there are multiple adverbial phrases in a clause, the first one should be the Temporal one, followed by the Causal phrase, the Modal phrase and the Local phrase. “Rule” is in quote because it’s not a rule of the German grammar: it is constantly breached in the wild by native speakers.
This guidance is still useful to provide a default order of adverbial phrases that will sound natural in most cases. Since it is already useful at level B1, I’m including it here:
Guidance: when there are multiple adverbial phrases in a clause, the temporal phrases go first, followed by the causal phrases, the modal phrases, and the local phrases (TeKaMoLo).
B2
zu + Infinitive with modal verbs, the perfect tense and the passive voice
So far we’ve seen subordinate clauses in the infinitive for simple verbs and separable verbs. What if we add a modal verb? For separable verbs, zu separates the separable particle and the stem:
Ich habe vor, eine Kartoffel einzuladen.
I plan to invite a potato.
Should be therefore get something along the line of infinitive-zu-infinitive_modal? i.e. bestehenzukönnen? Almost:
Ich hoffe, die Prüfung bestehen zu können.
I hope to be able to pass the exam.
zu separates the verb that was already in the infinitive (bestehen) and the modal verb that would have been conjugated in a “normal” subordinate clause. The same behavior takes place when conjugating in the perfect tense:
Sie ist stolz darauf, das Projekt abgeschlossen zu haben.
She is proud to have completed the project.
And the passive voice:
Sie erwartet, zu dem Gespräch eingeladen zu werden.
She expects to be invited to the meeting.
In case there are three verbs or more, zu goes before the last verb, i.e. the one that would have been conjugated:
Rule: when an infinitive clause in zu contains more than one verb, the clause ends in zu + the verb that would have been conjugated in the infinitive.
Accusative and Dative objects with pronouns
At level A2 we’ve seen that when a verb has a dative and an accusative object, the dative object usually goes first. That was only one part of the story.
This is the case because information that are new, important and emphasized are placed later in German sentences, and accusative objects are generally more important than dative objects. If the accusative or the dative object is under the form of a pronoun, this changes the balance because it means the information isn’t as new.
Hence if one of the object is a pronoun, this object will usually go first. Furthermore, if both are pronouns, the accusative will tend to go first – the opposite behavior as when both objects are full nouns.
To recapitulate:
Guidance: when a verb has an accusative and a dative object that are full nouns (with articles or names), the dative object usually comes before the accusative object.
Guidance: objects under the form of a pronoun are usually placed before objects that are full nouns.
Guidance: when a verb has an accusative and a dative object that are pronouns, the accusative object usually comes before the dative object.
Reminder: this is a guidance, not a rule. You will find plenty of examples of sentences in the wild that do not respect this rule. I would still recommend to follow these guidances not just to sound more natural, but to reduce the cognitive load while forming german sentences and focus on element that matter more.
Questions in Wo-
As we’ve seen at level A1, open questions beginning in a W- have the conjugated verb in position 2:
Was willst du kaufen?
What do you want to buy?
In English, some questions finish with a preposition if the conjugated verb takes a preposition:
I’m working on something.
→ What are you working on?
This preposition is usually part of a fixed Verb-Preposition pair. Germans do not like to have preposition sitting by themselves. Hence this preposition becomes part of the W- word:
What are you working on?
Woran arbeitest du?
What are you particularly interested in?
Wofür interessierst du dich besonders?
Note that, since there are many more Verb-Preposition in German than in English, many questions will begin with Wo- in German but won’t finish with a preposition in English:
Worüber möchte sie diskutieren?
What would she like to discuss?
Woran erinnerst du dich?
What do you remember?
There are therefore no change to the rule learnt at level A1:
Rule: in a direct question beginning with a word in W-, the conjugated verb goes in second position.
Reflexive Pronouns – Continued
At level A2 I mentioned the position of reflexive pronouns as sitting early in the clause, either right after the verb (when the subject is in position 1 in a main clause) or right after the verb (in other cases).
This is because reflexive pronouns add no new information, and therefore sit as early as possible in a clause. However, let’s take a case where the subject itself isn’t a pronoun, but a noun. In that case, the subject loads more new information than the reflexive pronoun. Therefore, the reflexive pronoun will be placed before the subject:
Gestern hat sich Paul intensiv auf das Vorstellungsgespräch vorbereitet.
Yesterday Paul prepared intensively for the job interview.
Wir haben gehört, dass sich mein Vater beruflich verändern möchte.
We heard that my father would like to change careers.
On the contrary, if the subject is a pronoun, the subject usually goes before the reflexive pronoun.
In letzter Zeit habe ich mich oft gefragt, ob diese Entscheidung richtig war.
Lately I have often wondered whether this decision was right.
Wir hoffen, dass wir uns bald wiedersehen werden.
We hope that we will see each other again soon.
As usual, these are guidances, not rules:
Guidance: if the subject of a main clause doesn’t sit in position 1, the subject usually sit before a reflexive pronoun if the subject is a pronoun, and after the reflexive pronoun if the subject is a noun.
C1
Relative pronouns in Wo-
As we’ve seen at level B2, Wo-words such as Woran and Worüber introduce a question that includes a preposition:
Womit beginnt die Konferenz morgen?
What does the conference begin with tomorrow?
Furthermore, we also know that other question words beginning in W- can introduce indirect questions and statements:
Ich weiß nicht, wo du wohnst.
I do not know where you live.
Er fragt, was du heute machst.
He asks what you are doing today.
Likewise, adverbs in Wo- can introduce subordinate clause, the same way a relative pronoun would:
Ich weiß nicht, worauf die Geschäftsleitung ihre Entscheidung stützt.
I don't know what the management bases its decision on.
Es ist fraglich, wozu diese umfangreichen Änderungen führen werden.
It is questionable what these extensive changes will lead to.
The clauses introduces with Wo-words behave like other subordinate clauses, i.e. the conjugated verb goes at the end.
Reported Speech using the Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I)
As mentioned earlier, dass can introduce subordinate clauses:
Er sagt, dass dein Gemälde wunderschön ist.
He says that your painting is beautiful.
Another, more formal way to write reported speech is to use the Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I):
Er sagt, dein Gemälde sei wunderschön.
He says your painting is beautiful.
When using the Konjunktiv, the reported speech isn’t a subordinate clause anymore, and thus the conjugated verb goes in second position. Here are other examples:
Die Zeitung berichtet, die Verhandlungen stünden kurz vor dem Abschluss.
The newspaper reports that the negotiations are close to being concluded.
Die Unternehmensleitung teilte mit, die Umsätze seien deutlich gestiegen.
The management announced that revenues had increased significantly.
Die Sprecherin erklärte, man prüfe derzeit verschiedene Optionen.
The spokesperson explained that various options were currently being examined.
This mode of speech is used a lot in newspapers.
Rule: when using the Konjunktiv, the reported speech is started in a main clause, where the conjugated verb goes in second position.
Conditional Inversion
In English, one can write conditional clauses without if by beginning the sentence with the conjugated verb:
Had I known, I would have come.
Should you need help, please call me.
The same thing can be done in German using the Konjunktiv II:
Hätte ich die Informationen früher erhalten, hätte ich anders entschieden.
If I had received the information earlier, I would have decided differently.
Sollte sich die Prognose bestätigen, wird das Unternehmen investieren.
Should the forecast be confirmed, the company will invest.
Despite the conditional sentence being usually a subordinate clause, with this inversion the conjugated verb goes first. Hence this result in two clauses beginning with a conjugated verb back to back.
Rule: conditional clauses can begin with the conjugated verb in the Konjunktiv II instead of using a subordinate conjunction.
Concessive Inversion
In addition to the conditional inversion, the concessive inversion can express a concessive clause without a subordinate conjunction such as obwohl or auch wenn:
Hatte er auch wenig Erfahrung, bekam er die Stelle.
Although he had little experience, he got the position.
War der Zeitplan auch ehrgeizig, wurde er eingehalten.
Although the schedule was ambitious, it was respected.
Auch is added after the subject to support the concession.
Rule: concessive clauses can begin with the conjugated verb instead of using a subordinate conjunction such as obwohl or auch wenn. The subject is followed by auch to support the concession.