Word order
Introduction
Word order in German is quite different from English, and it follows strict rules.
First, some more grammatical terms to make it easier to talk about word order.
Subject and object
We have already talked about the subject of a sentence. This can be:
- an ordinary noun: the cat sat on the mat.
- a name or proper noun: Peter likes reading books.
- a pronoun: she lives in a village.
We have also talked about the object in a sentence, direct or indirect, as in:
- I have not seen that film.
- I don’t like him.
- Give the book to Katie.
Clauses
Now we need to talk about clauses. Clauses can be divided into principal clauses and subordinate clauses.
A principal clause makes sense in its own right, and can form a sentence on its own, with nothing extra needing to be added. For example: 'I’m afraid of tigers'.
A subordinate clause - 'because they have sharp teeth' - does not make enough sense on its own and must be added to a principal clause to make a sentence. For example: 'I’m afraid of tigers, because they have sharp teeth.'
Adverbial phrases
Finally, there are also adverbial phrases, mostly of time and place. These are simply ideas such as 'heute' (today), 'morgen' (tomorrow), 'am Wochenende' (at the weekend), 'nächstes Jahr' (next year), etc.
For the purposes of German in the primary school, the following rules about word order are the most important.
Verb second
This rule means that the verb must be the second grammatical element in the sentence, NOT necessarily the second word. A grammatical element could be:
- a simple, one-word subject
- an adverbial phrase of time
- or a whole clause.
Examples
Ich spiele am Wochende Golf. - I play golf at the weekend.
Am Wochende spiele ich Golf. - At the weekend, I play golf.
Am Montag habe ich Nudeln gegessen. - On Monday, I ate pasta.
Im Kino schläft Vati immer ein. - Dad always falls asleep in the cinema.
Leider kann ich nicht mitkommen. - Unfortunately I can’t come (with you).
Time, manner, place
When there is more than one adverbial phrase in a sentence, the rule is that time (T) comes before manner (M), which comes before place (P).
Examples
Ich fahre heute abend (T) mit dem Auto (M) nach Glasgow (P). - I am going by car to Glasgow this evening.
Ich bin letztes Jahr (T) mit dem Zug (M) nach Paris (P) gefahren. - I went to Paris last year by train.
Letztes Jahr (T) sind wir mit dem Rad (M) durch den Schwarzwald (P) gefahren. - Last year, we went by bike through the Black Forest.
NB: Note that the word order in English for the second of these examples is quite different from the German.
Past participle to the end
We have already seen examples of this in the perfect tense. (See section on Past tense)
Ich bin letztes Wochenende nach Paris gefahren. - I went to Paris last weekend.
Er hat einen neuen Pullover gekauft. - He bought a new pullover.
Infinitive to the end
We have already seen examples of this in modal verbs and the future and conditional tenses.
Ich kann nicht richtig sehen. - I can't see properly.
Sie können sehr gut schwimmen. - They can swim well.
Wir werden nächstes Jahr nach Amerika fahren. - We shall go to America next year.
Ich würde mehr Bücher lesen, wenn ich mehr Freizeit hätte. - I would read more books if I had more free time.
Ich gehe am Donnerstag mit der Klasse schwimmen. - I am going swimming on Thursday with the class.
NB: Remember that the infinitive can go to the end of a clause, as well as to the end of a sentence.
Verb to the end in subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses begin with conjunctions such as 'if' ('wenn'), 'that' ('daß'), 'until' ('bis'), 'because' ('weil'), so that ('damit'), when ('wenn'). The rule is that the verb goes to the end in a subordinate clause.
For example:
Steh auf, wenn du gern Milch trinkst. - Stand up if you like drinking milk.
Die Königin weiß, daß sie die Schönste ist. - The queen knows that she is the most beautiful.
Wartet, bis ich das Zeichen gebe. - Wait until I give the sign.
Aschenputtel weint, weil sie keine neuen Kleider hat. - Cinderella is crying because she has no new clothes.
Ich trage immer Shorts, wenn ich im Urlaub bin. - I always wear shorts when I am on holiday.
NB: 'Wenn' can mean both 'if' and 'when' (in the sense of 'whenever').
If you want to say 'when' in the sense of a specific occasion in the past - 'When I was in Berlin two years ago, I lost my passport' - you must use 'als'. In practice, you will probably not need to use that in the classroom.
We have already seen that 'when' in a question is 'wann'.
Wann beginnt die Pause? In zwei Minuten. - When is the break? In two minutes.
NB: In written German (eg if you are putting up classroom notices), there is always a comma between a principal clause and a subordinate clause.
Subordinate clause before principal clause
If you put the subordinate clause before the principal clause in German, then the verb must come before the subject in the principal clause.
This is really another example of the 'verb second' rule, where the whole subordinate clause is the first grammatical item in the sentence.
For example:
Wenn ich hungrig bin, esse ich immer eine Banane. - When I am hungry, I always eat a banana.
Two principal clauses
If you join two principal clauses together in German with und (and), aber (but), oder (or) or denn (for), that does not affect word order; it does not invoke the verb second rule.
For example:
Ich esse gern Bananen, aber ich esse nicht so gern Tomaten. - I like eating bananas, but I don't like tomatoes so much.
Ich sitze in meinen Schlafzimmer und chatte mit Freunden. - I sit in my bedroom and chat with friends.
Note that this very modern German verb 'chatten' means 'to chat on the internet', and not more generally. You do not need to add the equivalent of 'on the computer', because the verb already has that meaning contained within it.
For example:
Ich chatte mit Freunden, oder ich spiele Computer. - I chat with friends (online) or I play computer games.
NB: You can, but you do not need to, say: 'Ich spiele Computerspiele.' ('I play computer games.')
'Denn' (for) is a useful substitute for 'weil' (because), in that 'denn' does not affect word order, whereas 'weil' does.
For example:
Ich bin müde, denn ich habe nicht gut geschlafen. - I am tired because I didn't sleep well.
Ich bin müde, weil ich nicht gut geschlafen habe. - I am tired because I didn't sleep well.