Two word order questions

Question

I often get my answers marked wrong by Duolingo for word order related issues. Sometimes I chalk it up to Duolingo not being flexible enough as I have been told German allows relatively more latitude with word order. But there are still a few sentences that I keep getting wrong in my review sessions.

English sentence: We'll discuss the text on Monday.
My translation: Wir diskutieren am Montag den Text. (marked wrong)
Duolingo's answer: Am Montag diskutieren wir den Text.

Since at least one non-inverted version has to work I am not sure what the problem is with my version. Should I put "am Montag" at the end? If so why?

English: She'll send us the presentation in half an hour.
Mine: Sie schickt uns in einer halben Stunde die Präsentation. (marked wrong)
Duolingo: Sie schickt uns die Präsentation in einer halben Stunde.

I thought temporal adverbials are more commonly placed in the middle/after the main finite verb, at least that's the impression Duolingo has left me. Are my versions also correct?

Answer 1

First off: there is nothing wrong with your version.

There is the ONE RULE you have to always follow in German:

verbs go second!

That is: the inflected verb has to be in second position in an "Aussagesatz" (this is the case here, there are special rules for Imperativsätze, Interrogativsätze and Relativsätze).

Wir diskutieren am Montag den Text.
Am Montag diskutieren wir den Text.

Notice that the verb is the second element. "Am Montag" are two words, but one syntactical element. The basic pattern is: you put something in in front (or at the end) to emphasize it. For instance:

Am Montag diskutieren wir den Text, am Dienstag lernen wir, Mittwoch ist die Prüfung.

Three main sentences and what is important - the schedule - is always up front. It is like writing:

• Monday: discussion
• Tuesday learning
• Wednesday: exam

Another version:

Den Text diskutieren wir am Montag, die schriftliche Arbeit folgt am Dienstag.

The schedule itself (Monday, Tuesday, ...) takes a backseat, but its itemization - first text discussion, then writing next day - is what counts here.

And even another version:

Wir diskutieren den Text am Montag, die andere Gruppe dann am Dienstag.

The emphasis is on who is due when, not what happens as that is a given.

To sum it up: which word order you use is a matter of what you want to put emphasis on.

EDIT: TeKaMoLo:
Because it came up in the comments a few words about "TekaMoLo": only after digesting what I said above this is a rule of thumb to produce correct, "neutral" sentences (that is: sentences without specific emphasis). BUT it is only a rule of thumb, not a rule! Violate it (like I have done above) and you still have correct sentences, but with varying emphasis. Many times you don't want this emphasis and this is where TeKaMoLo could be helpful.