Can the German Nebensatz be put in the middle of the sentence?

Question

I once asked a question if the sentence

jeder muss dafür verantwortlich sein, was er gesagt hat

is correct and was told that it is acceptable and that the verb must go at the end of its own clause before any subordinate clause.

However, I was also told by a native speaker that this sentence could also be enclosed by one, like

Jeder muss für das, was er gesagt hat, verantwortlich sein.

or

Jeder ist für das, was er gesagt hat, verantwortlich.

I just wonder that in the first sentence above the verb 'sein' goes to the end of the entire sentence after the subordinate clause. It really annoys me how should I correctly build the German main clause and subordinate clause and is there a rule I can follow? And

Take the following sentences.

1. Sobald ich Zeit habe, werde ich dir helfen.
2. Ich werde dir helfen, sobald ich Zeit habe.
3. Ich werde dir, sobald ich Zeit habe, helfen.

I can understand the first two sentences well but I still get confused by the third one.

Answer 1

Concerning "Jeder ist für das, was er gesagt hat, verantwortlich.":

Think about the "das, was er gesagt hat" as a noun. The whole phrase can be used anywhere a noun is used. It's called a noun phrase.

Examples:

Das Auto gefällt mir nicht.

can be replaced with

Das, was er gesagt hat, gefällt mir nicht.

 

Mir gefällt das Auto nicht.

can be replaced with

Mir gefällt das, was er gesagt hat, nicht.

 

Hast du das Auto nicht gehört?

can be replaced with

Hast du das, was er gesagt hat, nicht gehört?

 

Was hat dir gut gefallen? – Das Auto.

can be replaced with

Was hat dir gut gefallen? – Das, was er gesagt hat.

Concerning "Ich werde dir, sobald ich Zeit habe, helfen.":

Think about the whole sentence "sobald ich Zeit habe" as an adverb (of time). The whole sentence can be used anywhere an adverb is used. It's called an adverbial phrase.

Ich komme morgen nach Hause.

can be replaced with

Ich komme sobald ich Zeit habe nach Hause.

 

Morgen komme ich nach Hause.

can be replaced with

Sobald ich Zeit habe, komme ich nach Hause.

 

Erst um 15 Uhr komme ich nach Hause.

can be replaced with

Erst sobald ich Zeit habe, komme ich nach Hause.

 

Wann kommst du? – Morgen.

can be replaced with

Wann kommst du? – Sobald ich Zeit habe.

Answer 2

Don't let the third sentence type confuse you. The subordinate clause is an insertion and the outer sentence structure is not changed by it. The normal sentences would be

Jeder ist für das verantwortlich.

Ich werde dir helfen.

The conjugated verb is at the second position as usual. The tricky part is were to insert the subordinate clauses. In the first example right after the part that is restricted by it. In the second example I would assume it is inserted behind the object.

However, there are dependent subordinate clauses which work differently.

Answer 3

Let me take your last sentences to tell you my opinion:

Sobald ich Zeit habe, werde ich dir helfen.
Ich werde dir helfen, sobald ich Zeit habe.
Ich werde dir, sobald ich Zeit habe, helfen.

The second sentence is the most common to use, I guess, followed by the first and then the third. Personally, I wouldn’t use the third one and I think no German do so in spoken language. I would only use a sentence like the third one when writing a text or similar, but even then extremely rarely.

I am a native speaker of German, but as I said all of this is just my opinion. But all of these sentences are grammatically correct.

Answer 4

Maybe this is also a matter of emphasis. When arguing with someone you sometimes want to point out something in particular.

"Kein Argument, das du nennen kannst, wird mich überzeugen" (nice example, thank you)

"Kein Argument (of all arguments in the world), das du nennen kannst (pointing at the person directly), wird mich überzeugen." So we doubt the other person will bring something useful forward, in gerenal.

On the oher hand

"Mich wird kein Argument, das du nennen kannst, überzeugen."

seems to imply that the other person actually is capable of telling something useful. But anyway, no matter what it is (if good or bad) it won't convince me. So the sentence in the middle is more like some extra information.

Well, emphasis is slightly subjective sometimes but I hope this helps :)

Answer 5

Actually, all of the above are correct. Especially the last three examples are all correct. You are safe using your first example - the one you came up with yourself.

If you want to read about subordinate clauses in German, go to the following page: http://www.mein-deutschbuch.de/lernen.php?menu_id=123