2

The lyrics of a song by Helene Fischer are:

Zwischen Gestern und Morgen da find’ ich dich.
Gib uns nicht verloren und suche mich.

Why does she use “find ich dich”, instead of “ich find dich”?

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    Little surprisingly, a short Internet search yielded that there is only one song by Helene Fischer containing “find ich dich”.
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Feb 26, 2017 at 12:59
  • 1
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V2_word_order
    – Carsten S
    Feb 26, 2017 at 13:08
  • Or why not: "da Dich ich find" or "da ich Dich find" (Gib uns nicht verloren, Blumenkind) - for the rhyme. :)
    – user unknown
    Feb 26, 2017 at 16:24
  • @Wrzlprmft Little surprisingly? It’s coming as a big surprise to me, tbh.
    – Jan
    Feb 27, 2017 at 2:40
  • @Jan: I do not know this singer, but the probability to find such a sequence of words twice in any singer’s repertoire is very low.
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Feb 27, 2017 at 8:32

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Well, even though this question is inspired by Helene Fischer lyrics, here's my attempt to provide an answer:

Ich finde dich can be used alone (I (will) find you) or it can be used in conjunction with a closer definition about how, when or where you will be found (or how you are considered to be, because that's a second meaning of Ich finde dich => I think you are...). That's called the adverbial of time, manner, cause, etc.

For example:

Ich finde dich im Garten (I (will) find you in the garden)
Ich finde dich, wenn die Sonne untergeht (I (will) find you when sun sets)
Ich finde dich süß (I think you're cute)

The positions of the main clause Ich finde Dich and the adverbial can be swapped. However, you then have to change the word order also if you don't want to sound like Yoda:

Im Garten finde ich dich
Wenn die Sonne untergeht finde ich dich
Süß finde ich dich

The latter word order puts some emphasis on the attributes:

Im Garten finde ich dich (not in the garage)
Wenn die Sonne untergeht finde ich dich (not at noon)
Süß finde ich dich (not ugly)

Improve this answer
4
  • Please edit the OP, if you are sure the question is referring to these lyrics. The answer is very simple then: The verb stands at the second position in a german main clause, the other parts can be swapped.
    – Dirk
    Dec 23, 2015 at 0:30
  • »Find ich die Fundstelle, kann ich die Antwort vielleicht widerlegen« ;)
    – Jan
    Dec 24, 2015 at 16:58
  • FYI: I took the liberty to find the actual lyrics this question is about. You may want to address this in your answer.
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Feb 26, 2017 at 13:01
  • Ich denke das "da" spielt eine zu große Rolle, als dass man es in der Betrachtung unter den Tisch fallen lassen könnte. "Zwischen Gestern und Morgen, da find ich Dich" ok, aber wohin mit dem da bei "Zwischen Gestern und Morgen, ich find Dich"?
    – user unknown
    Feb 26, 2017 at 16:40

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.