Satzstellung - Question on how to structure group of words to fit grammatical rules.
22
votes
2answers
662 views
Where is exactly the position of “nicht” in the sentence?
A question came to my mind while I was reading a conversation in German:
Ich bin krank,
Ich kann nicht einkaufen.
Ich kann nicht mit Jonas zum Arzt gehen.
Ich kann Anna nicht in den ...
15
votes
1answer
218 views
What are the rules behind this translated phrase: “das, was ihr mich habt tun sehen”?
I came across this when reading the German translation of the Book of Mormon:
Denn das, was ihr mich habt tun sehen, ja, das sollt ihr tun.
The English part reads:
For that which ye have ...
14
votes
2answers
160 views
Are there other examples of postposed prepositions like in “Meiner Meinung nach, …”?
Gibt es weitere Beispiele mit einer Präposition am Ende einer Wortgruppe, wie in "Meiner Meinung nach, ..." ?
9
votes
4answers
639 views
Where to place “Bitte” in a sentence
As far as I know, many languages have no rules for the place of "please" in the sentence.
In German, seems it's not the same. Is it right to use "bitte" at the beginning or at the end of each ...
9
votes
2answers
157 views
Verändern der Wort-Reihenfolge um eine Überschrift (Kurzbeschreibung, etc.) verständlicher zu machen?
Wenn wir in unserem Issue-Tracking-System neue Punkte einstellen, kommt es manchmal vor, dass durch Veränderung der Wort-Reihenfolge die Aussage klarer wird, der "Satz" dann aber irgendwie holprig ...
8
votes
3answers
868 views
What is the proper position of “gern”?
For example, which of these is correct:
Ich esse gern Pizza
or
Ich esse Pizza gern
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Verb inversion with adverbs used at the beginning
I know that when adverbs are used in the first position, at the beginning of the sentence, the verb and subject position in German is inverted, such as in these examples with adverbs of place and ...
5
votes
3answers
231 views
Sentence order when using “abends”, “morgens”, etc
Which is more grammatically correct in this sentence:
Ich gehe abends meiner Uni um Deutsch zu lernen.
or
Ich gehe meiner Uni um Deutsch zu lernen abends.
5
votes
3answers
102 views
Why is the verb not in second position
I studied that the verb is always in second position in a sentence. The I came across this sentence:
Insbesondere das zweite Buch ist wichtig.
I could not find an answer here, why is the verb in ...
5
votes
2answers
121 views
»Vergiss nicht den Reisepass« oder »Vergiss den Reisepass nicht«?
Welcher Satz ist richtig?
Vergiss nicht den Reisepass.
Vergiss den Reisepass nicht.
4
votes
2answers
608 views
Sentence structure tips: verb placement
I'm having some trouble getting used to placing the second verb in a phrase at the end.
Sie kann sehr gut deutsch sprechen
Taking the above sentence as an example, I find it hard to read ...
4
votes
3answers
332 views
Why does 'geben' break the TeKaMoLo rule?
When learning German, you usually get the whole TeKaMoLo thing drilled into your subconsciousness. My German friend claims the following is a very natural word order:
Warum gibt es hier immer so ...
3
votes
3answers
133 views
Can I say “Montags und donnerstags gehe ich zur Uni um halb elf.” Is this the correct word order?
Would I say "Montags und donnerstags gehe ich zur Uni um halb elf" or should I be writing "Montags und donnerstags um halb elf gehe ich zur Uni." I feel like the first one sounds better....but I'm ...
3
votes
2answers
100 views
Welche Stellung hat “heute” im Satz?
Welcher Satz ist richtig:
Die Kinder sind fröhlich, weil die Ferien heute beginnen.
oder
Die Kinder sind fröhlich, weil heute die Ferien beginnen.
Ich glaube beide sind richtig, weil ich ...
3
votes
1answer
136 views
“So ein X” vs. “ein solches Y”
There is a German song with a title "So ein Tag" (Such a Day).
On the other hand, a native speaker corrected my usage of "solches ein Mädchen" as "ein solches Mädchen", which might translate into "a ...
2
votes
2answers
167 views
Is “to make one sigh” properly translated as “seufzen machen” or as “machen seufzen?”
This comes from another one of my poems. Both the English and German texts are mine:
Yes she was a girl who could make men sigh,
For she was the girl (called) the Lorelei.
And she was someone ...
2
votes
2answers
100 views
Manner-adverb placement [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the proper position of “gern”?
I find sentences with adverbs a bit confusing, as I don't know if the placement of a certain adverb is right or wrong. Consider ...
2
votes
1answer
149 views
Verbal idea: a call for examples
This website presents a very good explanation of the verbal idea and it's effect on word order in German: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~german/Grammatik/WordOrder/WordOrder.html.
However, there are not ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
»Passt das dir?« oder »Passt dir das?«?
Welcher Satz ist richtig?
Ich glaube, der erste, weil das das Subjekt ist
Passt das dir?
oder
Passt dir das?
1
vote
2answers
140 views
Inversion von Subjekt und Verb [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Verb inversion with adverbs used at the beginning
Warum vertauschen wir in einigen Sätzen das Subjekt mit dem Verb, wie:
Gestern bin ich mit Lisa ...
(Das ist ...
