German sentence structure

{{citation needed section|date=October 2021}}

Declarative sentences use V2 (verb in the second position) word order: the finite verb is preceded by one and only one constituent (unlike in English, this need not be the subject); in Germanic tradition, the position occupied by this constituent is referred to as the prefield ({{lang|de|Vorfeld}}). Coordinating conjunctions like {{lang|de|und}} ('and') or {{lang|de|aber}} ('but') precede both the prefield and the finite verb, and so do topicalised elements (similarly to "that" in English phrases such as "that I don't know"). The prefield is often used to convey emphasis.

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Ich sehe den Baum.

|ich seh-e den Baum

|I.NOM see.PRS-1SG the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG

|'I see the tree.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Den Baum sehe ich.

|den Baum seh-e ich

|the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG see.PRS-1SG I.NOM

|'I see the tree.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Du siehst den Fluss, und ich sehe den Baum.

|du siehst den Fluss und ich seh-e den Baum

|you.SG see.PRS.2SG the.ACC.SG.M river.ACC.SG and I.NOM see.PRS.1SG the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG

|'You see the river, and I see the tree.'}}

Non-finite verbs as well as separable particles are placed at the end of the sentence:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Der König ist an der Burg angekommen.

|der König ist an der Burg an{{=}}ge-komm-en

|the.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG be.PRS.3SG at the.DAT.SG.F castle.DAT.SG on{{=}}PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}-come-PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}

|'The King has arrived ({{lit}} "is on-come") at the castle.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Der König kam an der Burg an.

|der König kam an der Burg an

|the.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG come.PST.3SG at the.DAT.SG.F castle.DAT.SG on

|'The King arrived (lit. "on-came") at the castle.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Der König wird an der Burg ankommen.

|der König wird an der Burg an{{=}}komm-en

|the.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG will.PRS.3SG at the.DAT.SG.F castle.DAT.SG on{{=}}come-INF

|'The King will arrive ({{lit}} "will on-come") at the castle.'}}

In the midfield (the part of the clause between the position of the finite verb and that of the clause-final verb cluster), German word order is highly variable.

Conventional German syntax presents information within a sentence in the following order:{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

• {{lang|de|Wichtigstes}} (what is the most important thing within all the elements following the finite verb?)
• The word {{lang|de|da}} when taking the meaning of "then suddenly" must take the first place. {{lang|de|Dann}} ('then') does so often, but not necessarily; otherwise, the subject of the sentence may take first place.
• If the verb is the most important, the unconjugated (normally second) part of the separable verb is placed here, but still separated from the conjugated (normally first) part. If the verb is not separable or periphrastical, the infinitive is used.
• {{lang|de|Was}} ('what?' - the conjugated verb)
• In this case, a form of {{lang|de|tun}} is inserted for the conjugated verb, as in "{{lang|de|Arbeiten tun wir}}" ("Working, that's what we do").
• {{lang|de|Wer}} ('who?' - the subject)
• {{lang|de|Wem}} ('to/for whom' – dative object)
• {{lang|de|Wann}} ('when' – time)
• {{lang|de|Warum}} ('why' – reason)
• {{lang|de|Wie}} ('how' – manner)
• {{lang|de|Wo}} ('where' – place)
• {{lang|de|Wen}} ('whom' – accusative object)
• {{lang|de|Wohin}}/{{lang|de|Woher}} ('to/from where')
• Verb, {{lang|de|nochmal}} (first part of the separable verb)

{{lang|de|Wir gehen am Freitag miteinander ins Kino}}. Literally, 'We go on Friday together to the movies.'

{{lang|de|Wegen ihres Jahrestages bereiten wir unseren Eltern einen Ausflug nach München vor}}. Literally, 'Because of their anniversary plan we our parents a trip to Munich.'

In conversational past tense, comparisons can be put after both parts of the verb. So:{{pb}}{{lang|de|Er ist größer gewesen als ich.}} / {{lang|de|Er war größer als ich.}} {{pb}}OR{{pb}}{{lang|de|Er ist größer als ich gewesen}}{{pb}}'He was greater than me.'

German often structure a sentence according to increasing importance of the phrase towards the conversation. So:

{{lang|de|Wir gehen am Donnerstag ins Kino.}} 'We're going to the movies on Thursday.'

BUT

{{lang|de|An welchem Tag gehen wir ins Kino?}} '(On) What day are we going to the movies?'

{{lang|de|Am Donnerstag gehen wir ins Kino.}} 'On Thursday we're going to the movies.'{{pb}}OR {{pb}}{{lang|de|Wir gehen am Donnerstag ins Kino.}} 'We're going on Thursday to the movies.'

In ditransitive sentences, pronouns usually go between the verb and all other elements of the sentence:

{{lang|de|Florian gibt mir morgen das Buch.}} 'Florian is giving me tomorrow the book.' {{pb}}BUT {{pb}}{{lang|de|Florian gibt es mir morgen.}} 'Florian is giving it to me tomorrow.'

{{citation needed section|date=October 2021}}

An inversion is used to emphasize an adverbial phrase, a predicative, an object, or an inner verbal phrase in a sentence. The subject phrase, at the beginning of an indicative unstressed sentence, is moved directly behind the conjugated verb, and the component to be emphasized is moved to the beginning of the sentence. The conjugated verb is always the second sentence element in indicative statements.

Example 1:

:"{{lang|de|Ich fliege schnell.}}" 'I fly fast.' – unstressed

:"{{lang|de|Schnell fliege ich.}}" 'I fly fast.' – stressed "{{lang|de|schnell}}"/'fast' (i.e., "Fast is how I fly.")

Example 2:

:"{{lang|de|Du bist wunderschön.}}" 'You are lovely." – unstressed

:"{{lang|de|Wunderschön bist du.}}" 'You are lovely.' – stressed "{{lang|de|wunderschön}}"/'lovely' (i.e., "Lovely is what you are.")

Example 3:

:"{{lang|de|Ich bin gelaufen.}}" 'I ran.' – unstressed

:"{{lang|de|Gelaufen bin ich!}}" 'I ran!' – stressed "{{lang|de|gelaufen}}"/'ran' (i.e., "Run is what I did!")

Questions are generally divided into yes–no questions and wh-questions.

Specific questions are similar to inverted statements. They begin with a question word, which is followed by the conjugated verb, followed by the subject (if there is one), and then the rest of the sentence.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

: Was machst du jetzt? ("What are you doing now?")

: Wer geht ins Kino? ("Who is going to the cinema?" – In this sentence, the interrogative pronoun wer serves as the subject)

In yes–no questions, V1 (verb-first) word order is used: the finite verb occupies the first position in the sentence; here, there is no prefield.

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Siehst du den Baum?

|siehst du den Baum

|see.PRS.2SG you.SG the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG

|'Do you see the tree?'}}

However, conjunctions and topicalised elements still precede the finite verb:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Aber hast du den Baum gesehen?

|aber hast du den Baum ge-seh-en

|but have.PRS.2SG you.SG the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}-see-PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}

|'But have you seen the tree?'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Den Baum, hast du den gesehen?

|den Baum hast du den ge-seh-en

|the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG have.PRS.2SG you.SG DEM.ACC.SG.M PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}-see-PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}

|'The tree, have you seen it?'}}

Wh questions work in much the same way as they do in English. Like English, German also has Wh-movement:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Welchen Baum hast du gesehen?

|welchen Baum hast du ge-seh-en

|INTERR.DET.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG have.PRS.2SG you.SG PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}-see-PST.PTCP_{{{no gloss|1}}}

|'What tree have you seen?'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Wohin gehen wir?

|wohin geh-en wir

|whither go.PRS-1PL we.NOM

|'Where are we going?'}}

For commands, the imperative mood is used. Like questions, commands use V1 word order:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Reich(e) mir das Salz!

|reich-(e) mir das Salz

|pass-IMP.SG I.DAT the.ACC.SG.N salt.ACC.SG

|'Pass me the salt!'}}

In contemporary German, the imperative singular ending -e is usually omitted. The second-person-singular pronouns du 'you (sg)' and ihr 'you (pl)' are always omitted, except in highly formal or literary language:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Bringe du mir das Buch!

|bring-e du mir das Buch

|fetch-IMP.SG you.SG I.DAT the.ACC.SG.N book.ACC.SG

|'Fetch me the book!'}}

Like in English, nouns or non-finite verb forms can sometimes be used to give commands:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Achtung Stufe!

|Achtung Stufe

|attention.NOM.SG step.NOM.SG

|'Mind the step!'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Warm anziehen nicht vergessen!

|warm an{{=}}zieh-en nicht vergess-en

|warm.ADJ on{{=}}pull-INF not forget-INF

|'Don't forget to dress warmly!'}}

Subordinate clauses use Vfinal word order.

Using dass 'that':

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Ich weiß, dass er hier ist.

|Ich weiß dass er hier ist

|I.NOM know.PRS.1SG that he.NOM here be.PRS.3SG

|'I know that he's here.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Wer hat dir erzählt, dass ich nach England ziehen werde?

|wer hat dir erzähl-t dass ich nach England zieh-en werd-e

|who.NOM have.PRS.3SG you.DAT.SG tell.PST.PTCP that I.NOM to England.NOM move.INF will.PRS.1SG

|'Who told you that I'm moving to England?'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Dass zwei größer als eins ist, ist selbstverständlich

|dass zwei größer als eins ist, ist selbstverständlich

|that two greater than one be.PRS.3SG be.PRS.3SG obvious

|'That two is greater than one is obvious.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Sie schrieb es nieder, sodass sie es nicht vergessen würde.

|sie schrieb es nieder sodass sie es nicht vergess-en würd-e

|she.NOM write.PRET.3SG it.ACC down so.that she.NOM it.ACC not forget.INF will.{{gcl|SUBJII|subjunctive II}}-3SG

|'She wrote it down so that she would not forget it.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Wir sollten uns beeilen, damit wir rechtzeitig ankommen.

|wir soll-t-en uns beeil-en damit wir rechtzeitig an{{=}}komm-en

|we.NOM shall-PRET-1PL we.REFL hurry-INF in.order.that we.NOM in.time on{{=}}.come-INF

|'We should hurry so that we arrive in time.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Ich helfe dir, weil ich dich mag.

|ich helf-e dir weil ich dich mag

|I.NOM help.PRS-1SG you.SG.DAT because I.NOM you.ACC like.PRS.1SG

|'I help you because I like you.'}}

File:Intonation of German restrictive relative clauses.jpg of German restrictive relative clauses]]There are two varieties of relative clauses. The more common one is based on the definite article der, die, das, but with distinctive forms in the genitive (dessen, deren) and in the dative plural (denen). Historically, this is related to the English that. The second, which is typically used in more literary contexts and used for emphasis, is the relative use of welcher, welche, welches, comparable with English which. As in most Germanic languages, including Old English, both of these varieties inflect according to gender, case and number. They take their gender and number from the noun which they modify, but the case from their function in their own clause.

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top = Der König, der sah den Fluss.

|der König der sah den Fluss

|the.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG REL.NOM.SG.M see.PST.3SG the.ACC.SG.M river.ACC.SG

|'The king, who saw the river.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Das Haus, in dem ich wohne, ist sehr alt.

|das Haus in dem ich wohne ist sehr alt

|the.NOM.SG.N house.NOM.SG in REL.DAT.SG.N I.NOM live.PRS.1SG be.PRS.3SG very old

|'The house in which I live is very old.'}}

The relative pronoun dem is neuter singular to agree with Haus, but dative because it follows a preposition in its own clause. On the same basis, it would be possible to substitute the pronoun welchem.

However, German uses the uninflecting was ('what') as a relative pronoun when the antecedent is alles, etwas or nichts ('everything', 'something', 'nothing'.).

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2

|top=Alles, was Jack macht, gelingt ihm.

|alles was Jack macht gelingt ihm

|everything.NOM.SG.N what.ACC.SG Jack.NOM do.PRS.3SG {turn out well.PRS.3SG} 3SG.DAT

|'Everything that Jack does is a success.'}}

In German, all relative clauses are marked with commas.

Alternatively, particularly in formal registers, participles (both active and passive) can be used to embed relative clauses in adjectival phrases:

:Die von ihm in jenem Stil gemalten Bilder sind sehr begehrt.

:'The pictures he painted in that style are highly sought after.'

:

:Die Regierung möchte diese im letzten Jahr eher langsam wachsende Industrie weiter fördern.

:'The government would like to further promote this industry, which has grown rather slowly over the last year.'

Unlike English, which only permits relatively small participle phrases in adjectival positions (typically just the participle and adverbs), and disallows the use of direct objects for active participles, German sentences of this sort can embed clauses of arbitrary complexity.

An adverbial clause begins with a conjunction, defining its relation to the verb or nominal phrase described.

:Als ich auf dem Meer segelte ("When/As I was sailing on the sea")

Some examples of conjunctions: als, während, nachdem, weil.

{{Reflist}}

Category:Word order

Sentence Structure