First of all, you need to indicate the conjunctions that form additional subordinate clauses and subordinate clauses of reason:

  • ass- What
  • ob- whether
  • weil - because
  • da- because

And now the fun begins. In the main clause everything is as usual, but in the subordinate clause the word order changes in a special way. The subject comes immediately after the conjunction, and the modified part of the predicate takes last place:

  • Ich weiß, dass er in zwei Wochen nach Deutschland fährt. - I know that he is going to Germany in two weeks.
  • Ich möchte wissen, ob wir am Samstag Unterricht haben. - I would like to know if we have classes on Saturday.
  • Sie kommt heute nicht, weil sie krank ist. - She won't come today because she's sick.

It looks even more original if a complex tense form, a construction with a modal verb, etc. appears in the sentence:

  • Ich weiß, dass er vor zwei Wochen nach Deutschland gefahren ist. - I know that he left for Germany two weeks ago.
  • Ich weiß nicht, ob sie das Auto gekauft haben. - I don't know if they bought the car.
  • Sie lernt Englisch und Deutsch, weil sie zwei Fremdsprachen beherrschen will. - She studies English and German because she wants to speak two foreign languages.

If we compare this with the direct word order: “Er fährt...”, “Sie ist...”, “Sie will...”, then one can see a frame construction, where the frame is formed by the subject (at the beginning of the subordinate clause) and “ the predicate is opposite" (at the end).

The negation in a subordinate clause comes before the predicate or before the unchangeable part of the predicate - in a word, not in last place, because the last place is always “reserved” for the changeable part of the predicate:

  • Ich habe gehört, dass er nach Deutschland nothing fährt. - I heard that he is not going to Germany.
  • Ich habe nicht geantwortet, weil ich diese E-Mail nothing bekommen habe. - I didn't respond because I didn't receive this email.

Separable prefixes and components of verbs in subordinate clauses are not separated:

  • Ich denke, dass ich mitgehe. - I think I'll go with you.
  • Wir wissen nicht, ob er mitfährt. - We don't know if he's coming with us.
  • Ich habe die Lampe ausgeschaltet, weil ich fernsehe. - I turned off the lamp because I'm watching TV.

The reflexive pronoun sich is used in a subordinate clause after subject, if the subject is expressed by a pronoun:

  • Ich habe gehört, dass Sie sich mit diesen problemen beschäftigen. - I heard that you are working on these problems.

But if the subject of the subordinate clause is expressed by a noun, then sich usually stands before subject:

  • Ich weiß, dass sich unser Freund mit diesen Problemen beschäftigt. - I know our friend is dealing with these issues.

Additional subordinate clauses can be introduced not only by the conjunction dass, but also by a question word:

Ich habe nicht gehört, was er gesagt hat. - I didn't hear what he said.

Ich weiß nicht, wann er commmt. - I don't know when he will come.

Können Sie erklären, warum Sie sich immer verspäten? - Can you explain why you are always late?

Wissen Sie, Herr Doktor, was ich heute Morgen geschossen habe? - Do you know, Mister Doctor, what I shot this morning?

Ja, das weiß ich. Ich habe ihn heute Mittag behandelt. - Yes I know. I examined him during the day.

Play a role in such proposals and pronominal adverbs. They are formed by joining wo(r)- or da(r)- to the corresponding preposition:

  • Er fährt mit dem Bus. - Womit fährt er? - Er fährt damit. - He travels by bus. -What is he driving? – On it (= on the bus).
  • Ich interessiere mich für Fremdsprachen. – Wofür interessieren Sie sich? - Ich interessiere mich dafür. - I am interested in foreign languages. - What are you interested in? - I'm interested in this.
  • Sie warten auf den Zug. - Worauf warten sie? - Sie warten darauf. - They are waiting for the train. -What are they waiting for? - They are waiting for him (= the train).

Pronominal adverbs can introduce additional subordinate clauses:

  • Er fragt, wovon ich das weiß. - He asks how I know this.
  • Man hat mich gefragt, womit ich mich beschäftige. - They asked me what I do.

Union da - because usually introduces a subordinate clause if it comes before the main clause. That is, in this case, our entire argument begins with the conjunction da. The variable parts of the predicate in the main and subordinate clauses tend to each other and are located at the junction:

Da er ein junger Wissenschaftler ist, hat er ein Forschungsstipendium bekommen. - Since he is a young scientist, he received a research fellowship.

Da er dieses Stipendium bekommen hat, fährt er nach Deutschland. - Since he received this scholarship, he goes to Germany.

You can understand what a German subordinate clause is by looking at the following example diagram:




As you can see, a subordinate clause can appear either before or after the main clause.

In a subordinate clause the predicate is worth last. If the predicate is compound, then the conjugated part is in the very last place, and the unchangeable part is in front of it. The negation “nicht” comes before the predicate. Detachable attachments do not separate. The subject comes immediately after the conjunction.

You can see the word order in a German subordinate clause in this diagram:





Thus, it is very important to remember that the predicate comes at the end of the predicate sentence. The predicate is most often a verb. The inflected and conjugated parts appear when, for example, we have a modal verb. Ich kann kommen. kann - conjugated part, kommen - unchangeable part.

There are a few types of subordinate clauses. Below we provide a table of types of subordinate clauses, which includes introductory words (conjunctions, pronouns), followed by the above-described word order in the subordinate clause.

Main types of subordinate clauses:

1) Reasons:

Ich komme nicht, weil ich krank bin. I won't come because I'm sick/sick.

Ich mache das Fenster auf, da es mir zu heiß ist. I'll open the window because I'm too hot.

2) Goals:

Ich lerne Deutsch, damit ich eine gute Arbeit finden kann. I'm learning German so I can find a good job.

Ich arbeite viel, damit meine Kinder alles haben. I work hard to ensure that my children have everything.

If the characters in the main and subordinate clauses coincide, then you can use a turnover with um... zu:

damit ich Deutsch lerne. I came to Germany to learn German.

Ich bin nach Deutschland gekommen, um Deutsch zu lernen. I came to Germany to learn German.

3) Conditions:

Wenn es morgen nicht regnet, gehen wir in die Berge. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we'll go to the mountains.

Falls Sie Kinder haben, bekommen Sie eine Ermäßigung. If you have children, you will receive a discount.

4) Time:

Wenn du nach Hause kommst, ruf mich bitte an. When you get home, please call me.

Während ich arbeite, sind meine Kinder im Kindergarten. While I work, my children are in kindergarten.

Als ich acht war, habe ich das Schwimmen gelernt. When I was eight years old, I learned to swim.

Seitdem ich in Moskau wohne, habe ich immer einen guten Job. Since I live in Moscow, I always have a good job.

Wir haben noch eine Stunde Zeit, bis die Gäste kommen. We still have an hour before the guests arrive.

Sobald du fertig bist, fangen wir an. As soon as you are ready, we will begin.

Bevor ich einkaufen gehe, schreibe ich mir immer eine Einkaufsliste. Before I go shopping, I always write myself a shopping list.

Nachdem ich die Prüfung bestanden habe, kann ich mich erholen. After I have passed the exam, I can rest.

5) Places and directions:

Ich möchte wissen, wo wir sind. I would like to know where we are.

Ich weiß nicht, wohin dieser Weg fuhrt. I don't know where this road leads.

6) Concessions:

Obwohl es regnet, gehe ich spazieren. Even though it's raining, I'll go for a walk.

7) Comparisons:

Je mehr Geld ich verdiene, desto mehr Steuern muss ich bezahlen. The more money I make, the more taxes I owe/have to pay.

Sie sprechen besser Deutsch, als wir erwartet haben. You speak German better than we expected.

8) Additional subordinate clause:

Man sagt, dass Benzin bald wieder teurer wird. They say that gasoline prices will soon rise again.

Können Sie mir bitte sagen, wie dieses Gerät funktioniert? Can you tell me how this device works?

Ich weiß noch nicht, ob ich morgen ins Schwimmbad gehe. I don't know yet whether I'll go to the pool tomorrow.

9) Determinative subordinate clause:

Ich möchte einen Mann heiraten, der mich immer verstehen wird. I want to marry a man who will always understand me.

Ich möchte eine Frau heiraten, die mich nie betrügen wird. I want to marry a woman who will never cheat on me.

Ich möchte ein Kind haben, das mich niemals enttäuschen wird. I want to have a child who will never disappoint me.

Ich möchte diesen Film sehen, von dem alle sprechen. I would like to see this movie that everyone is talking about.

And here are those unions that DO NOT INFLUENCE on the word order of the sentence they enter:und, aber, denn, oder, sondern

The word order after these conjunctions is exactly the same as in the main clause: the conjugated part of the predicate is in second place.

Er antwortete sicher, denn er hatte sich auf die Prufung gut vorbereitet.
He answered confidently because he had prepared well for the exam.

Ich habe keine Zeit, und ich gehe nicht zum Fußball.
I don't have time and I won't go to football.

Exercise: Insert suitable conjunctions

1) ...du willst, begleite ich dich nach Hause.

2) Ich muss viel arbeiten,... ich genug Geld habe.

3) ... ich krank bin, muss ich meine Arbeit erledigen.

4) Ich weiß nicht,... wir machen sollen.

5) ... du das nicht machst, rede ich nicht mehr mit dir.

6) Ich gehe nach Hause,... ich müde bin.

The conjunction, just like the preposition, belongs to the auxiliary parts of speech. A conjunction is used to connect words in a sentence, clauses and their parts. The concept of “union” can refer to both the union itself and the union word. Conjunctions in their composition can be one-part or consisting of several words.

Unions: und–i/a, aber– but/however, yeah- what/so that oder- or.

Conjunctive words: darum- That's why, deshalb– as a result of this/therefore, darauf- after this, ferner– further/besides.

One word conjunctions: als-When, denn– because/since/because, nachdem- after, sondern– a/ but, sowie- and.

Multi-word conjunctions: als ob– as if/as if, Oh yeah– and not / and not / although not, und zwar- namely, nicht nur...,sondern auch- not only but, sowohl..., als auch- both... and...

In a sentence, conjunctions usually do not serve a syntactic function and therefore do not affect the order of words in the sentence.

According to the type of syntactic connection, all conjunctions are divided into compositional (die koordinierenden Konjunktion) And subordinators (die subordinierenden Konjunktionen).

Once the union " coordinating“, which means it connects something - homogeneous members in a sentence, sentences, phrases, etc.

Die Wohnung ist sehr klein, doch schön ist– The apartment is very small, but beautiful.

Sie hat sich ein teuers, doch hochmodisches Kleid gekauft– She bought an expensive but very fashionable dress.

In German, coordinating conjunctions are divided into:

1. connecting

und–i/a, auch- and also, sowie– as well as/as well as, und zwar- namely, bald...,bald- then..., then, nicht nur..., sondern auch- not only but;

2. adversative

aber-but/however, oder- or, (je)doch– however/but, dennoch– however/nevertheless, (nicht...,) sondern– (not...,)/a/but, allein– but/however;

3. Cause relationships

denn– because/since/because, nämlich– namely/that is;

4. relations of consequence

also– therefore/means/so, folglich– therefore/so/therefore, somit- thereby.

Die Eltern gehen heute abends nicht ins Theater, sondern in die Oper– Today in the evening my parents are going not to the theater, but to the opera.

Entweder kommt sie noch heute abends, oder sie kommt überhaupt nicht mehr– she will either come this evening, or she won’t come at all.

Adverbs/pronominal adverbs can also be used as coordinating conjunctions:

daher- (and therefore, Dann– then/besides this, darauf– after this/then, darum- That's why, deshalb- Consequently, ferner- Besides, sonst- otherwise, trotzdem- Despite this, zudem– besides/besides, zuletzt- in the end.

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In complex sentences, subordinating conjunctions are used to link subordinate clauses to the main clause. Subordinate clauses, as a rule, perform the functions of secondary members - definitions, additions, circumstances. Conjunctions are used to connect with the main subordinate clauses as complements and adverbials; attributive clauses are tied to the main clause using relative adverbs and pronouns. Subordinating conjunctions have a special impact on the word order in the subordinate (depending on the main) clause. Their use dictates a strictly defined word order in the subordinate clause, which looks like this: “subordinating conjunction + subject + (additions, circumstances) + predicate: non-conjugated part + predicate: conjugated part (last place), for example:

  • Während (conjunction) ich (subject) das Material (object 1) für meinen Bericht (object 2) durchsah (predicate), erinnerte ich mich an ein ganz wichtiges Detail. – While I was looking through the material for my report, I remembered one very important detail.

Subordinating conjunctions in German

Russian Union

German Confederation

Example

TEMPORARY

1. Simultaneous (parallel) actions in the main and subordinate clauses
"when = once" "als" Als es zu regnen begann, waren wir schon vor dem Theater. – When it started to rain, we were already in front of the theater.
"when = many times" "wenn" Wenn wir auf dem Lande sind, grillen wir oft Schweinefleisch. – When we are out of town, we often grill pork.
"while" « » An diesem Tag hat sie gefrühstückt, indem sie frische Zeitungen gelesen hat. “That day she had breakfast while reading the latest newspapers.
"while" "indessen" Ich schäle Kartoffeln, indessen meine Freundin Gurken schneidet. — I’m peeling potatoes, while my friend is chopping cucumbers.
"Bye" "solange" Solange du Fieber hast, darfst du nicht aufstehen. “As long as you have a fever, you can’t get up.”
"when = whenever" "soft" Sooft ich in unserer Kantine esse, fühle ich mich danach nicht wohl. – When I eat in our dining room, I always feel unwell afterward.
"when = while" "während" Während wir bei unseren Bekannten in Köln waren, gingen wir oft in den Dom. – When (while) we were visiting our friends in Cologne, we often went to the cathedral.

2. Preceding the action of the main clause
"when = after" "als" Als Marta ihrer Schwester die Geschichte erzählt hatte, begann sie zu weinen. – After Martha told this story to her sister, she began to cry.
"after" "nachdem" Nachdem ihr Fuss geröntgt worden war, entschied der Arzt, ihn einzugipsen. “After she had an X-ray of her foot, the doctor decided to put her in a cast.
"since" "seitdem" Seitdem sie nach Österreich gefahren ist, hören wir nichts von ihr. – Since she left for Austria, we have not heard anything about her.
"as soon as" "sobald" Sobald ich den nächsten Chemieunterricht habe, frage ich meinen Lehrer danach. – As soon as I have my next chemistry lesson, I will ask my teacher about it.

3. Following the action of the main clause
"before" "bevor" Bevor ich dir das nächste Buch gebe, musst du dieses bis zum Ende gelesen haben.
"until" "bis" Du darfst deinen Mund nicht öffnen, bis ich winke. – You are not allowed to open your mouth until I nod (give a sign).
"before" "ehe" Ehe du in den Flughafen gekommen bist, ist er schon abgeflogen. - Before you arrived at the airport, he had already left.

COMPARATIVE
“than, as – als”, “as – wie”, “as if, as if – als ob”, “as if, as if – als wenn”, “as if – wie wenn”, “so that – als dass”, “than ... that - je... desto", "than... that - je... je" Er sah so aus, als ob er die Nacht nicht im Bett, sondern am Computer verbracht hatte. – He looked as if he had spent the night not in bed, but at the computer.

CAUSAL
“because - da”, “since, since - weil” Unsere Familie hat diese Wohnung gemietet, weil sie in der Nähe von meinem Büro ist. – Our family rented this apartment because it is located near my office.

INVESTIGATIVE
“so that - als dass”, “so (as a result of which) - so dass = sodass” Jetzt ist es schon sehr dunkel, als dass wir noch spazieren gehen könnten. “It’s already too dark now for us to go for a walk.”

TARGET
“(so that) in order to - damit”, “so that - dass” Ich habe ihm einige Bücher mitgegeben, damit er sie in Ruhe liest. — I gave him several books with me so that he could read them in peace.

CONDITIONS
“if - wenn”, “(in case) if - falls”, “(in case) if - im Falle dass” Falls er nach St.Petersburg kommt, kann er wieder bei uns übernachten. – If he comes to St. Petersburg, he can spend the night with us again.

CONDITIONAL
“although – obwohl”, “despite the fact that – obzwar”, “although – obgleich”, “although – obschon”, “although, even if – wenngleich”, “although – wenn auch”, “despite the fact what - trotzdem" Bettina fährt mit ihrem Auto nach Hause, obwohl sie heute sehr viel Martini getrunken hat. Bettina is driving home in her car, although she drank a lot of martinis today.

RESTRICTIVE
“how much”: “(in)sofern”, “(in)wiefern”, “(in)soweit”, “(in)wieweit”, “soviel” Soweit es uns bekannt ist, wohnt er allein. — As far as we know, he lives alone.

MODAL (MODES OF ACTION)
"since, therefore, because -

indem»Ihr könnt euren Planeten retten, indem ihr der Umwelt helft. – You can save your planet by helping the environment.

“without that, so... not - ohne dass”Er verliess den Zuschauerraum, ohne dass er jemanden störte. - He left the auditorium without disturbing anyone. “Because - dadurch dass” Er stört mich dadurch, dass er ständig pfeift. “He bothers me by whistling all the time.”

Conditional clauses indicate a condition without which some action could not, cannot or will not be performed.

Beispiel

Mutter: “Markus, ich will heute Nachmittag einen Kuchen backen.” Kannst du mir helfen?“

Markus: „ Wenn ich heute Nachmittag Zeit habe, helfe ich dir.“

Mutter: “Markus, kannst du mir beim Kuchenbacken helfen?”

Markus: „ Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich dir helfen. Aber ich muss noch Hausaufgaben machen.”

Mutter: “Jetzt ist der Kuchen fertig.” Du wolltest mir doch helfen!?“

Markus: „ Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, hätte ich dir geholfen. Aber meine Hausaufgaben…“

Real Condition

Here we are talking about a condition necessary to perform some action in the present or future. Moreover, in German, the same grammatical form is used for conditions that are actually fulfilled regularly (when..., then...) and for such conditions, the fulfillment of which is considered probable in the future (if..., then.. .). Both parts of the sentence (both the part describing the condition and the part describing the action) use present.

For example: Wenn ich Zeit habe, help ich dir. If I have time, I will help you. Or: When I have time, I help you.

Unreal condition (in the present)

Here we are talking about a condition that would be necessary to perform some action in the present. The condition is not met, so the action cannot be performed. Both parts of the sentence use the present tense form (or the form with the auxiliary verb würde).

For example: Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich dir helfen. If I had time (now), I would help you. Wenn ich Zeit hätte, hülfe/hälfe ich dir.

Unreal condition (past)

Here we are talking about a condition that was necessary for performing an action in the past. The condition was not met, so the action was not performed. Both parts of the sentence use the subjunctive II in the past tense form.

For example: Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, hätte ich dir geholfen. If I had time (earlier), I would have helped you.

Notes on sentence structure

Condition ( availability of time) stands in a subordinate clause, which usually begins with a conjunction wenn. Wenn- a subordinating conjunction, that is, the conjugated form of the predicate is placed at the end of the sentence (see table of conjunctions).

For example: Wenn ich Zeit habe, …Wenn ich Zeit hätte, …Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, …

An action that depends on a condition ( help), is in the main clause. If a sentence begins with a condition (subordinate clause), the subject of the main clause is placed after the conjugated part of the predicate.

For example: Ich help dir, wenn ich Zeit habe. → Wenn ich Zeit habe, helfe ich dir.