Craig Hall
Verb placement Is verb placement always at the end of a sentence in German?
Dec 18, 2014 1:42 AM
Answers · 1
Rules: 1) In a main clause, the conjugated verb is in second position: Ich [1] sitze [2] am Tisch. 1a) Real conjunctions ("und", "oder", "denn", "aber") don't count in this respect: Denn [0] ich [1] sitze [2] am Tisch. 1b) Adverbials that can look similar to conjunctions ("dann", "danach", "deswegen", and many more) do count: Deswegen [1] sitze [2] ich am Tisch. 2) In a subclause, the conjugated verb is at the end: ..., weil ich am Tisch sitze [E]. 3) Participles and infinitives stack at the end in reverse order (there's one exception for some auxiliary verbs together with the Ersatzinfinitiv, but that's for advanced learners.): Es muss [2] gegessen worden sein. ..., weil es gegessen worden sein muss [E].
December 18, 2014
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!