German word order¶

Q: How do I find the subject if something else takes first position?

The subject comes right after the conjugated verb. For example, in Heute lese ich ein Buch, heute is first and the verb lese is second. The subject ich is third, right after the verb. The order of the other parts barely changes.

Q: Why does the verb move to the end in subordinate clauses?

It's a separate rule of German word order. After a subordinating conjunction (weil, obwohl, dass, wenn, als and others), the conjugated verb goes to the end of the subordinate clause. In a main clause, it takes the second position. This word order is how you tell a subordinate clause from a main clause.

Q: Does word order change after words like deshalb or trotzdem?

Yes. Conjunctional adverbs (deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem, deswegen and others) take the first position themselves. By the V2 rule, the verb takes the second position, and the subject takes the third: Es regnet. Deshalb bleiben wir zu Hause. Wrong: Deshalb wir bleiben. Learners often confuse them with coordinating conjunctions (und, aber, oder, denn, sondern). After coordinating conjunctions, the word order doesn't change.

English word order is strict too, but its rules are different. In English, the subject usually comes before the verb. In German, the position of the verb is fixed. The main rule is the V2 rule (Verb an zweiter Stelle, "verb in second position"). It decides where the subject goes when another word takes the first position.

The main rule: the verb goes second¶

In a main clause, the conjugated verb always takes the second position. This isn't necessarily the second word. It's the second part of the sentence. The first part can have several words, such as ein Buch. The rule applies no matter what comes first.

1st position	2nd position (verb)	rest
Ich	lese	heute ein Buch.
Heute	lese	ich ein Buch.
Ein Buch	lese	ich heute.

In all three sentences, the verb lese takes the second position. Only the first part changes. If the first position isn't the subject, the subject ich comes right after the verb.

The same rule applies after conjunctional adverbs¶

The conjunctional adverbs deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem and deswegen take the first position themselves. By the V2 rule, the verb takes the second position, and the subject takes the third: Es regnet. Deshalb bleiben wir zu Hause. Wrong: Deshalb wir bleiben.

Learners often confuse them with the coordinating conjunctions und, aber, oder, denn and sondern. After coordinating conjunctions, the word order doesn't change, because they don't take a position in the sentence. For more on this difference, see "Conjunctions".

In subordinate clauses, the verb moves to the end¶

After a subordinating conjunction (weil, obwohl, dass, wenn, als and others), a different rule applies. The conjugated verb goes to the end of the subordinate clause, not to the second position: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin. This word order is how you recognize a subordinate clause.

The bot practices the word order after subordinating conjunctions and after conjunctional adverbs. It practices the meaning of a conjunction and the word order as separate steps. For more, see "Conjunctions".

Exercises¶

You can find more exercises on this topic in the Telegram bot @ImmerWiederholenBot. The bot saves your progress and reminds you when it's time to review.

German word order¶

The main rule: the verb goes second¶

The same rule applies after conjunctional adverbs¶

In subordinate clauses, the verb moves to the end¶

Exercises¶

See also¶