Grammatik

 

The most prominent feature of German word order is the position of the verb. Each of the three major clause types in German-main, question, and subordinate-requires the conjugated verb to occupy a different place within the clause, which can differ considerably from English:

 

Main clause: Eigentlich verstehe ich diese Regel schon.	Actually, I already understand this rule.
Question: Verstehst du diese Regel oder nicht?	Do you understand this rule or not?
Subordinate clause: Ich glaube zumindest, dass ich diese Regel schon verstehe.	At least I think (that) I already understand this rule.

 

But although the verb position varies from clause to clause, it is consistent within each clause type. The conjugated verb and any associated verbal elements (such as infinitives or participles) in fact form a stable framework into which the other elements can be placed in various ways. The important thing is to remember which kind of clause you are constructing and how that dictates the constraints and possible variations for word order within it.

 

A. First elements

1. The most common first element in a German sentence is the grammatical subject.

 

Dieser Zug fährt über Augsburg nach Frankfurt.

This train travels to Frankfurt via Augsburg.

 

2. Words modifying the subject .are considered part of the first element.

 

Der letzte Zug aus München fährt über Nürnberg nach Frankfurt.

The last train out of Munich travels to Frankfurt via Nuremburg.

 

3. German speakers often put adverbial expressions or prepositional verbal complements (see 30.1) in first position for the sake of style or to draw attention to this in- formation as the actual "topic" of the statement. When this happens, the subject, which would normally be in first position, moves to a position after the conjugated verb" NOTE: Adverbial first elements are not set off by a comma, as they may be in

English.

 

In wenigen Minuten wird der Zug Frankfurt erreichen (adverbial modifier).	In a few minutes, the train will reach Frankfurt.
Auf unseren Besuch in Frankfurt freuen wir uns sehr. (prepositional verbal complement)	We are very much looking forward to our visit to Frankfurt.

 

4. Direct and indirect objects, infinitives, and participles can also occur in first position, but this is much less common. In such instances, they occur mainly (but not only) in response to specific questions asking for the information contained in these elements.

 

Den letzten Zug haben wir verpasst. (direct object)	We missed the last train.
Deiner Verspätung haben wir das zu verdanken. (indirect object)	We have your lateness to thank for that.
Warten wollen wir nicht länger. (infinitive)	We don't want to wait any longer.
Angerufen habe ich dich nur, damit du's weißt. (past participle)	I only called you so you'll know.

 

5. Ja, nein, and nouns of address are not considered first elements. They are set off by a comma, and the actual sentence begins after the comma.

 

Ja, ich fahre zum ersten Mal mit der Bahn.	Yes, I'm traveling by train for the first time.
Mein lieber Freund, das hätte ich nicht von dir erwartet.	My dear friend, I wouldn't have expected that of you.

 

B. Position of the coniugated verb

1. The second sentence element in a main clause is always the conjugated verb (V₁), regardless of which element occupies first position.

 

Die Arbeit geht jetzt gut.	}	Work is going fine now.
Jetzt geht die Arbeit gut.
Gut geht die Arbeit jetzt

 

2. Even if the first sentence element is a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb of the following main clause is still in second position within the overall sentence.

 

1                                                          2

 

Weil wir mehr Zeit haben, geht die Arbeit jetzt gut.

Because we have more time, the work is going fine now.

 

3. For purposes of word order, when two main clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction (aber, denn, oder, sondern, and und) (see 11.1), the conjunction is not considered a first element of the second clause; thus the position of the conjugated verb in the second clause does not change.

 

Sie studiert in Heidelberg, aber ihre Familie wohnt in Koln

She is studying in Heidelberg, but her family lives in Cologne.

 

C. Elements in the middle field

1. The conjugated verb (V₁) and any other verbal elements that appear later in the sentence (V₂; see D below) form a kind of bracket around the elements between them, which comprise what is often called the middle field. The middle field includes the subject if it is not in first position, as well as object nouns and pronouns (accusative and dative, including reflexive pronouns), adverbial modifiers, and verbal complements.

 

2. If the subject of the main clause follows V₁ it usually appears at (or near) the beginning of the middle field. Subject pronouns must stand directly after V₁. Subject nouns can be preceded by unstressed personal pronouns or, if the subject is to be emphasized, by other elements as well.

 

Gestern hat Tina ein Geschenk in der Stadt gekauft.	Yesterday, Tina bought a present in the city.
Zuerst wollte sie es in einem Sportgeschaft kaufen.	At first, she wanted to buy it at a sporting goods store.
Dann hat ihr eine Freundin beim Essen von einer neuen Buchhandlung erzählt.	Then a friend told her at lunch about a new bookstore.

 

3. The order of dative and accusative objects in the middle field (see 4.4 and 4.5) is deter- mined in general by the level of emphasis desired: The farther to the right one of these objects appears in the middle field, the greater the emphasis it receives. This means in practice that

• a personal pronoun object appears before a noun object:

 

Tina kaufte es ihrem Vater zum Geburtstag.	Tina bought it for her father's birthday.
Tina kaufte ihm ein kleines Buch zum Geburtstag.	Tina bought him a little book for his birthday.

 

• with two noun objects, the one being emphasized appears second:

 

Tina gab der Verkäuferin das Geld.	(what she gave is emphasized)
Sie gab das Geld derVerkäuferin.	(to whom she gave it is emphasized)

 

Some grammars state that in such cases, the dative object should precede the accusative object, but this oversimplifies the matter. If das Geld has already been mentioned, for example, it is better to place Geld first and thereby emphasize Verkäuferin:

 

A: Was machte sie mit dem Geld?	What did she do with the money?
B: Sie gab das Geld der Verkäuferin.	She gave the money to the saleswoman.

 

4. If both objects are personal pronouns, the accusative pronoun comes first, regardless of emphasis.

 

A: Wo denn?	Where (did she do that)?
B: Sie gab es ihr an der Kasse.	She gave it to her at the register.

 

5. Adverbial modifiers generally follow the order of Time-Manner-Place (TMP rule), unless there is a need to emphasize a particular modifier, in which case the "emphasis to the right" rule prevails. Often, what one may think of as "place" indicators are not merely adverbial modifiers but verbal complements that specify direction in a way that "completes" certain verbs. Notice how the "time" and "manner" modifiers can be dropped in the following examples, but not the directional modifier, which is always positioned at the end of the middle field (see C7 below).

 

Ich ging ins Geschäft. (place)

Ich ging am Samstagmorgen ins Geschäft. (time/place)

Ich ging mit Andreas ins Geschäft. (manner/place)

Ich ging am Samstagmorgen mit Andreas ins Geschäft. (time/ manner/place)

I went to the store on Saturday morning with Andreas.

 

6. For rules concerning the position(s) of nicht, see 6.1.

 

7. Verbal complements

As mentioned above, some verbs require information to “complete” their meaning in certain contexts. The element supplying this information is called the verbal complement and appears at the very end of the middle field. This means that it immediately precedes V₂ (see D.l) or stands as the final element in a main clause with no V₂. Here are the most common types of verbal complements:

 

• Predicate nominatives (see 4.3):

 

Mein Bruder ist Arzt.                                        My brother is a doctor.

 

• Directional modifiers:

Ich bin später nach Hause gefahren.                I drove home later.

 

• Separable prefixes (see 29.1):

 

Wann hört dieser Lärm auf?                             When is this noise going to stop?

 

Er kommt in zwei Stunden zurück.                    He's coming back in two hours.

 

• Certain other elements-object nouns, infinitives (see 18.3 and 29.1), and adverbs (see 24.1), for example-that combine with verbs to create specific meanings:

 

Ich spiele seit Jahren Klavier.	I've been playing the piano (i.e., I've known how to play) for years.
Seit wann fährst du denn Auto?	Since when have you been able to drive?
Wir trinken in einer Stunde Kaffee.	We're going to take a coffee break in an hour.
Gehst du mit uns spazieren?	Are you going to take a walk with us?
Ich lernte neulich diese Leute kennen.	I got to know these people recently.
Sie lernte alle Vokabeln auswendig.	She memorized all the vocabulary words.

 

D. V₂ elements

1. The right-hand portion of the verbal bracket (V₂ encloses the elements of the middle field and usually consists of an infinitive or a past participle.

 

Sie möchte mit uns zur Vorlesung gehen.	She would like to go to the lecture with us.
Ich muss noch mehr Wörter auswendig lernen.	I have to memorize even more words.
Jeden Tag hat er Klavier gespielt.	He played the piano every day.
Wann bist du denn heute aufgestanden?	When did you get up today?

 

2. Separable prefixes attach directly to the V₂ verb (see 29.1), forming either an infinitive or a past participle together with the root verb. Notice that past participles formed with -ge- insert this element between the prefix and the root verb.

 

Die Kinder haben taut mitgesungen - und wollten gar nicht aufhören.            The children sang along loudly-and didn't want to stop at all.

           

Warum bist du nicht früher angekommen?      Why didn't you arrive sooner?

 

E. Final elements

 

While the first element, the verbal bracket, and the middle field contain almost all information in a main clause, some elements can appear after V_2. Here are some common examples:

 

• Adverbial modifiers added as an afterthought:

 

In Frankfurt haben wir die Oper besichtigt mit meinem Onkel.

In Frankfurt, we visited the opera with my uncle.

 

• Elements to be emphasized:

 

Ich habe mich besonders gefreut auf den Abend.

I was particularly looking forward to the evening.

 

• Comparative phrases beginning with als or wie:

 

Sie hat einfach mehr gewusst als ich.	She simply knew more than I (did).
Du hast genauso gut gespielt wie dein Bruder.	You played just as well as your brother.

 

1.2 Positions of the Conjugated verb in Questions

 

1. The conjugated verb takes first position in yes-no questions, followed by the middle field, including the subject.

 

Geht die Arbeit jetzt gut? (yes no question)

Is the work going well now?

 

2. The conjugated verb follows an interrogative word or expression (see 15.2).

 

Was macht die Arbeit so schwer?	What makes the work so difficult?
Bei was für einer Firma arbeitest du?	For what sort of a company do you work?

 

3. In indirect questions, the question itself is a subordinate clause (see 1.3) and the verb stands in final position within this clause.

 

Sie will wissen, bei was für einer Firma du arbeitest.

She wants to know what sort of a company you work for.

 

1.3 Positions of the conjugated verb in different clauses

 

A. Subordinate clauses

 

1. The conjugated verb occupies final position in subordinate clauses (see 11.3), even if the subordinate clause comes first in the sentence.

 

COMPARE:

 

Main clause:

 

Ich kenne niemanden dort.        I don't know anyone there.

 

Subordinate clause:

 

Ich gehe nicht zur Party, weil ich niemanden dort kenne.	I'm not going to the party, because I don’t know anyone there.
Weil ich niemanden dort kenne, gehe ich nicht zur Party.	Because I don't know anyone there, I’m not going to the party.

 

 

2. The conjugated auxiliary verb (V₁) in a subordinate clause follows final position verbal elements (V₂).

 

Christoph geht auch nicht, obwohl er mich eingeladen hat

Christoph isn't going either, although he invited me.

 

3. The only exception to this rule involves a double infinitive construction (see 18.6). The V₁ in such cases immediately precedes the two infinitives.

 

Jetzt denke ich aber, dass ich doch zur Party hätte gehen sollen

But now I'm thinking that I really should have gone to the party.

 

4. As in English, the subordinating conjunction dass (that) may be omitted. When this happens, the second clause is considered a main clause and the verb stays in second position.

COMPARE:

 

Manchmal denke ich, dass Christoph keine Ahnung hat.	Sometimes I think that Christoph doesn't have a clue.
Manchmal denke ich, Christoph hat keine Ahnung.	Sometimes I think Christoph doesn't have a clue.

 

B. Relative clauses

A relative clause (see 26.1) is a subordinate clause; the conjugated verb occupies final position within this clause.

Menschen, die so was machen, gefallen mir nicht.

I don't like people who do things like that.

 

Wortschatz

Erzählen Sie Mal

The following words occur more than once in the direction lines for the exercises and

if activities in this text.

 

Verben

 

ändern to change, modify	beschreiben to describe
ausdriicken, to express, say	besprechen to discuss
zum Ausdruck	betonen to emphasize, stress
bringen to express, say	bilden to form (sentences)
sich äußern (zu) to express one's views, comment on	einsetzen to insert, supply(missing words)
austauschen to exchange	ergänzen (durch) to complete (with)
beenden to end, complete	erklaren to explain
berichten (über) + accusative to report (on), tell about	ersetzen to replace, substitute
gebrauchen to use, make use of	erzählen to tell, narrate
mitteilen to communicate or impart, tell	unterstreichen to underline
verwenden to use, make use of	verbinden to connect, combine
übersetzen to translate	wiederholen to repeat
umformen to transform, recast	zusammenfassen to summarize

 

Substantive (Nouns)

der Ausdruck, -..e expression	der Inhalt, e content(s)
die Aussage, -n statement	das Thema, -en topic
der Gebrauch use	der Vorschlag,-..e suggestion

 

Adjektive

 

fehlend missing	passend suitable, proper
fett gedruckt printed in boldface	unterstrichen underlined
kursiv gedruckt printed in italics	verschieden various