…, da ich es bald werde machen müssen.
…, ob sie diese Probleme hatte lösen können.
…, damit ich bis Montag habe bleiben dürfen.
„Ich hätte schwören können, dass es eine Fata Morgana ist!“
The structure of German main clauses is different from English. In English, a number of words or phrases can come before the verb, and the subject is almost always immediately before the finite verb. In fact, as English has no case endings for the subject, this is the only way we can tell it is the subject.
In German, the subject often comes after the verb, inside the central section. It is important to learn to recognize what the subject is
from its ending: the subject is in the nominative case;
from the ending on the verb: this agrees with the subject.
You can see this from the following sentences, which are easy to misunderstand because there is an object or complement in first position, and the subject comes later in the sentence:
There is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about these sentences. They have this order because of where the writer (or speaker) wants to put the emphasis.
9.4 The order of words and phrases in the central section
Except for the verbs and the element in first position in main clauses, all the words and phrases in a German clause normally come in the CENTRAL SECTION, between the ‘brackets’. The words in the central section tend to appear in the order summarized in the word order table at the end of the chapter. The sequence given there can be treated as a reliable guideline for your own use, but you will sometimes find Germans changing it slightly for reasons of emphasis.
More details about this sequence are given in the following sections (9.5–9.8). You should remember that this order is the same for the central section of all clause types, in questions and subordinate clauses as well as in main clauses.
142 Word order
Polizisten attackierte gestern Abend in Amstettenein alkoholisierter Arbeitsloser.
Yesterday evening an unemployed drunk attacked policemen in Amstetten.
Diesen Nachbarn begegnete mein Brudernun öfters.
My brother met these neighbours frequently from then on.
Dieser Frau hat erdann das Handy von seiner Schwester gegeben.
He then gave this woman his sister’s mobile phone.
Den Ministern erschien diese Politikunmöglich.
These policies seemed impossible to the ministers.
Auch die dringend notwendige neue Heizung können sichdie Eheleutenicht leisten.
The married couple cannot even afford the new heating which they so urgently need.
Auch über diese Geschichte kann in Rudolstadt kaumjemandlachen.
Hardly anyone in Rudolstadt is able to laugh about this story either.
9.5 The position of pronouns
PERSONAL PRONOUNSusually follow immediately after the finite verb or the conjunction. In other words, they are usually the first words in the central section of the clause.
Personal pronouns have the order NOMINATIVE– ACCUSATIVE– DATIVE:
Personal pronouns come before DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.
Thus personal pronouns like ich, er, sie, es, Ihnen, etc. – and the reflexive pronoun sich – come before demonstrative pronouns like das, dieser, etc., irrespective of case:
9.6 The position of the noun subject and objects
If the subject (i.e. nominative case) and the dative and accusative objects of the verb are NOUN PHRASES, they usually follow the PRONOUNSin the central section (unless one of them is in ini-tial ‘topic’ position):
An exception to this general rule is that the noun SUBJECTcan precede or follow the personal pronouns:
9.6 The position of the noun subject and objects 143
Ich wollte es meinem Vater erzählen. I wanted to tell it to my father.
Trotzdem hat er den Fernseher gekauft. Nevertheless, he bought the television.
Das hat ihmder Lehrergezeigt. The teacher showed him that.
Gestern hat ihn meine Mutter hier gesehen. Yesterday my mother saw him here.
Gestern hat ihnmein Mannhier gesehen. Gestern hat mein Mannihn hier gesehen.
Warum will ihmdein Freundhelfen? Warum will dein Freundihm helfen?
topic bracket
1nom. acc. dat. other elements bracket
2Gestern hat er sie ihm zum Geburtstag gegeben.
Hast du es uns nicht gesagt?
..., dass er sich mir auf diese Weise vorgestellt hat.
Wollen Sie ihm dasgleich sagen? Do you want to tell him that straight away?
Hat ihn diesererkannt? Did he recognise him?
Soeben hat sich dasereignet. That has just happened.
Hast du denmitgebracht? Have you brought that?
Subject and object noun phrases have the order NOMINATIVE– DATIVE– ACCUSATIVE:
9.7 The position of adverbials
Adverbials in the central section are usually positioned after a DATIVEnoun object and before an ACCUSATIVEnoun object:
If there is more than one adverbial in the central section of the clause, they tend to be placed in the order attitude – time – reason – place – manner:
NB The traditional rule for the order of adverbials, time – manner – place, is misleading since it ignores the distinction between adverbials and complements. DIRECTION/PLACE COMPLEMENTScome after adverbials of manner, but ADVERBIALSof place normally come before adverbials of manner.
Adverbials of manner tend to follow all other adverbials and also follow an accusative noun object since they directly define the action of the verb:
The order of adverbials and noun objects can vary for emphasis. The neutral word order given above tends to place the emphasis on the action of the verb with its objects and complement.
144 Word order
topic bracket1 nominative dative accusative bracket2
Gestern hat der Nachbar meinem Vater diese Videos geliehen.
Hat Monika seiner Freundin etwas gesagt?
…, dass die Chefin den Angestellten mehr Geld versprach.
topic bracket1 pron. dative adverbial accusative bracket2
Dann hat er meinem Vater trotzdem diese Videos geliehen.
Hat er seiner Freundin am Sonntag kein Geschenk gebracht?
…, dass sie den Angestellten vielleicht mehr Geld versprach.
topic bracket1 attitude time reason place manner bracket2
Uwe musste leider am Montag wegen des Unfalls operiert werden.
Ihr werdet wohl nachher zu Hause fest schlafen.
Sie haben offenbar heute trotz des Wetters in Köln gut gespielt.
topic bracket1 other elements accusative manner bracket2
Dann hat er dem Spieler den Ball unvorsichtig zugeworfen.
Hat die Feuerwehr den Brand schnell gelöscht?
..., dass sie das Stück zu langsam gespielt haben.
If an adverbial is placed later in the clause than in its usual place, it becomes more heavily stressed:
9.8 The position of complements
The subject (nominative case) and any dative and accusative objects have special positions in the central section (see 9.6). All other COMPLEMENTSare placed at the end of the central section, immediately before the closing ‘bracket’. This applies to:
genitive objects
prepositional objects
place and direction complements
the predicate complement.
NB The noun portions of set verb phrases also come at the end of the central section. They can in fact be con-sidered similar to separable prefixes, e.g. Christian konnte sehr gut Klavierspielen.
9.9 The position of nicht
If nicht refers to the whole clause– i.e. if it negates the action of the verb in general – it normally comes before those elements in the central section that directly define the action of the verb:
after place or time adverbials, but before manner adverbials
after an accusative noun object
before all other complements.
9.9 The position of nicht 145
Sie hat im Sommerdiesen neuen Wagen gekauft. That’s what she bought/did.
Sie hat diesen neuen Wagenim Sommergekauft. That’s when she bought it.
Er hat im Internetdie neue Adresse gefunden. That’s what he found/did.
Er hat die neue Adresseim Internet gefunden. That’s where he found it.
complement topic bracket1 other elements complement bracket2 type
genitive object ..., weil der Verletzte dringend eines Arztes bedurfte.
prepositional obj. Hat sie lange im Café auf ihren Mann gewartet?
direction compl. Sie ist mit dem BMW zu schnell in die Kurve gefahren.
place compl. Sie wollten auf keinen Fall in Wuppertal wohnen.
predicate compl. Hans ist erstaunlicherweise Dolmetscher geworden.
Other negating words, like kaum ‘hardly’, ‘scarcely’ and nie ‘never’, come in the same posi-tion in the clause as nicht:
In some contexts, nicht refers not to the clause as a whole, but to a specific word or phrase.
If nicht refers to a specific element in the clause, it comes immediately before the word(s) in question:
9.10 Placing elements after the verbal bracket
As a general rule, the final part of the verb concludes a German clause, acting as the ‘closing bracket’.
However, in some contexts it is usual or possible to place an element after this closing bracket:
SUBORDINATE CLAUSESare normally not enclosed within the verbal bracket.
COMPARATIVE PHRASESintroduced by als or wie are normally placed after the verbal bracket.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASESare sometimes placed after the verbal bracket, especially in colloquial speech.
146 Word order
topic bracket1 adverbials accusative nicht manner complement bracket2
Alfred will trotzdem nicht lange schlafen.
Sylvia hat allerdings den Film nicht gesehen.
Lucia hat heute die Rolle nicht gut gesungen.
Ich wollte doch nicht auf diesen Mann warten.
Wir sind gestern nicht nach Stuttgart gefahren.
Sylvia kann jedoch den Filmkaumgesehen haben. But Sylvia can hardly have seen the film.
Lucia hat jedoch die Rolleniegut gesungen. But Lucia has never sung that part well.
Sie hat mir dieses Buchnicht geliehen. [She didn’t lend me the book.]
Sie hat mirnicht dieses Buchgeliehen, sondern das andere. [not this book]
Sie haben am Freitagnicht gespielt. [They didn’t play on Friday]
Sie haben nicht am Freitaggespielt, sondern am Samstag. [not on Friday]
Die Firma will Solaranlagen entwickeln,die möglichst billig sind.
The company wants to develop solar plants that are as cheap as possible.
Diese Technologie wird in zehn Jahren sicherbilligersein als heute.
In ten years’ time this technology will undoubtedly be cheaper than today.
Letzte Woche haben wir einen ganz tollen Film gesehen in dem neuen Kino.
Last week we saw a brilliant film in the new cinema.
topicbracket1pronouns noun dative nounmost accusative nichtmanner complementsbracket2 NADsubjectobjectadverbialsnoun objectadverbials MAIN CLAUSEHeutehatihrmein Freundsichereine E-Mailgeschickt. Jansolldem Chefjetztden Berichtbringen. Wirsinddanachnichtklügergeworden. QUESTION/Hatsieesihmdennrichtigerklärt? COMMAND HaterIhnentrotzdemden Wegnichtzeigen können? GebenSiemirsofortdas Geldzurück! SUBORDINATE …,weilder alte Herrdem Mannfür seine Hilfegedankt hat. CLAUSE …,dameine Tantemeistensnichtvorsichtigist. …,dasssieden Briefschnellin die Taschestecken wollte.
WORD ORDER