2.12 Subordinating conjunctions — the verb goes last — Epoché
What you will be able to do Build a subordinate clause with weil , dass , wenn , ob or obwohl and put the conjugated verb last: Ich gähne, weil ich müde bin. Choose between weil and the denn of lesson 2.11, one of which leaves the verb alone and one of which does not. Put a separable verb into a subordinate clause, where the prefix rejoins its verb: Frag sie, wenn sie wiederkommt. Say what the comma in Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. tells a German reader, and why it is not optional. Prerequisites : 2.11 — the five conjunctions that do nothing to the verb; this lesson is built on the contrast with them, especially the three sentences with denn . Also the separable verbs of lesson 2.8, which go back together in a subordinate clause. This is the rule that makes German sound like German. Everything else in this volume has been a difference of degree; this one is a difference in kind. A German subordinate clause puts its conjugated verb at the very end, after the objects, after the adverbials, after everything. English speakers have no instinct for it, because English subordinate clauses have the same word order as main clauses. The rule is simple, with only a list of trigger words to learn. What takes practice is producing it in real time, because you have to know how the clause ends before you begin it. How English does it English does not do it at all. Because he is sick , that God exists , if it rains , whether he is coming , although she is poor — subject first, verb second, as in a main clause. That is why you can learn the German rule in a minute and still get it wrong for a year. The nearest English intuition: main clauses invert for questions and subordinate clauses do not — where is he but I know where he is . That is a real word-order difference between the two clause types. German applies a difference of that kind across the board, and moves the verb much further. The second contrast is the word for that . English can leave it out: I know you love me . German can too, but then the clause reverts to main-clause order, with the verb second. The word and the verb position are one signal. Dropping the word and keeping the verb at the end produces something no German would say. The third contrast is punctuation, and it is the one to exploit. German requires a comma before every subordinate clause, however short. So a comma in German prose tells you a verb is coming at the end of what follows: hold the clause open until its last word. English commas here are a matter of taste and tell you almost nothing. Fourth, English uses when both for questions and for conditions: when does he come , he smiles when he comes . German has different words. The one in this lesson is the conditional one, which also covers English if ; the question word is in lesson 2.7. Confusing them is the commonest error here, and entirely avoidable. The five words and what they do Conjunction English · what the clause does weil because — gives the reason; the everyday word for it in speech dass that — introduces a reported thought or statement after verbs of saying, knowing and believing wenn if; when, of something repeated or still to come — a condition or a recurring occasion ob whether, if — introduces an indirect yes-or-no question obwohl although, even though — concedes something that works against the main clause All five send the conjugated verb of their clause to the end. If the clause has two verbal elements, the conjugated one goes last with the other just before it; that comes in the third volume. For now your clauses have one verb, and it goes last. The separable verbs make the rule click. In a main clause the verb is second and the prefix last, as far apart as possible. In a subordinate clause the verb goes to the end, where the prefix already was, so the two meet and are written as one word. The prefix does not move; the verb comes to it. Clause type Where the two halves of the verb are main clause conjugated verb second, prefix last — the two halves as far apart as possible subordinate clause both at the end, written as one word — the verb has come to the prefix So there is one principle: a German clause has a right-hand edge where verbal material collects. In a main clause the finite verb is pulled forward to second position and leaves the rest behind. In a subordinate clause nothing is pulled forward. Seen that way, the subordinate order is the plain one and the main-clause order the exception. The two words for because, side by side This pair shows most clearly that the class of a conjunction, not its meaning, decides word order. The two words mean the same, translate the same English word, and are interchangeable in most contexts. What they do to the verb is opposite. In lesson 2.11 the clause after the coordinating word was an ordinary main clause, verb second. The fourth sentence below is the same kind of thought with the subordinating word: I need or want something, because I am thirsty or hungry. In 2.11 the verb of the reason clause was second; here it is last. Nothing else differs. Use the subordinating word by default: it is far commoner in speech, its clause can move to the front of the sentence, and it can answer a question on its own. Use the coordinating word when the second clause should feel like a separate assertion, close to English for against because . Twenty sentences from the corpus Seven with the everyday word for because. In every one, the verb is the last word. German English Ich gähne, weil ich müde bin. [1] I am yawning because I feel sleepy. Er fehlt, weil er krank ist. [2] He's absent because he's sick. Ich weine, weil ich dich liebe. [3] I'm crying because I love you. Ich esse Obst, weil ich Hunger habe. [4] I'm eating fruits because I'm hungry. Ich mag ihn, weil er ehrlich ist. [5] I like him because he is honest. Du hustest, weil du rauchst. [6] You're coughing because you smoke. Ich bin hier, weil ich Italienisch lerne. [7] I'm here because I'm learning Italian. Say the