Questions tagged [word-order]
Satzstellung – Questions on how to structure group of words to fit grammatical rules.
544
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word order in case of a compound predicate
So here is a sentence of my own making:
Wenn ich nur dastehen und sagen "Ich hab' ein stabiles Einkommen" könnte.
Grammar checker permutes it into the following:
Wenn ich nur dastehen und ...
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3
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connecting two separate ideas with "und" within a single dass-clause
Here is a sentence of my own making:
Sie antwortet, dass er von hier geradeaus gehen sollte und dann er die Bäckerei hinten rechts an der Schule sieht.
Grammar checker begs to differ
Sie antwortet, ...
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2
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"Sätze und satzwertige Infinitivphrasen können Gegenstand von Ausklammerung ins Nachfeld sein."-English translation
Here is a sentence taken from Die Grammatik von Duden:
Sätze und satzwertige Infinitivphrasen können Gegenstand von Ausklammerung ins Nachfeld sein.
I cannot quite make sense of the English ...
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2
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Unusual word order: Passive mit Modalverben im Plusquamperfekt
My German textbook gives the following solution to an exercise where correct verb forms need to be filled in:
Nachdem das Ziel hatte erreicht werden können, sollen die Sieger gefeiert werden.
I have ...
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What is the significance of different orderings of several adverbs: leider / immer noch
If I want to say "We still have all 101 dalmatians, unfortunately", what is the difference between
Wir haben leider immer noch alle hundertundein Dalmatiner
and
Leider haben wir immer ...
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2
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Word order of Subordinate clause with three verbs
I am reading a book in german and following sentence comes up:
Dabei gab es bereits vieles, das mich hätte glücklich machen sollen.
The second part of the sentence is a relative clause and thus must ...
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1
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Zum ersten Mal : time phrase or manner phrase [closed]
What is the type of this phrase:
zum ersten Mal
Is it at time phrase or a manner phrase? I just want to know the order of such an expression, because of the rule that time comes first, then manner, ...
1
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2
answers
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Separable verbs and 'gern'
If I wanted to say 'I like to go for walks' where does 'gern' go?
My guess is
Ich gehe gern spazieren.
Is this correct?
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Double "derjenige" and punctuation
Here is a sentence of my own making. I would like to know whether the punctuation is correct here.
(…), ein bitterer Kampf zwischen denjenigen, die überfüttert werden, und denjenigen, die zu kurz ...
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Positioning of "nie" in sentences
My question concerns "nie(mals)" and its positioning in sentences. Does it essentially function just like the particle "nicht" in that regard, e.g., either negating the sentence as ...
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"Die anzunehmen würde dann wahrscheinlich jeder Kellner ablehnen"-weird word order?
Here is a sentence taken from one of the responses posted on a German language forum by a senior member. Therefore, I presume it to be grammatically correct:
Die anzunehmen würde dann wahrscheinlich ...
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4
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"…, als er sich es anders überlegte"-incorrect order?
Here is a sentence:
Er hatte schon fast die Nummer von daheim gewählt, als er sich es anders überlegte
Grammar checkers invert the order of "es" and "sich". Why is that? Why is ...
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why is "Mein Bruder spielt Klavier manchmal." wrong?
The correct sentence was said to be 'Mein Bruder spielt manchmal Klavier,' so it would literally translate to 'My brother plays sometimes piano.'
However, when another sentence goes, 'Ich koche oft,' ...
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Woran er nur wieder gedacht hatte
Here is a sentence:
Woran er nur wieder gedacht hatte!
I don't quite understand why this sentence follows the Nebensatz word order pattern. Is this a special type of a sentence?
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Time, manner, place
I got to the point in German where I try to formulate longer sentences. I know I have to put the details in the following order: time, manner and place.
Would the following two sentences be correct?
...
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Weird "zu' mit Infinitiv
Ich bin dir dankbar, mit mir gekämpft haben zu können.
I came across this sentence that seems weird to me. Should it be more like this:
Ich bin dir dankbar, mit mir kämpfen können zu haben.
Which ...
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1
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Namensschreibweise
In Deutschland gibt es ja die Vorwärtsschreibweise eines Namens (also mit Vorname/Nachname) und die Rückwärtsschreibweise (also mit Nachname, Vorname).
Wenn die Vorwärtsschreibweise lautet "Dr. ...
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„Ich kann die E-Mail öffnen nicht.“ Wrong
I had understood that to negate an entire sentence, then „nicht“ should be placed at the very end of that sentence. However, „Ich kann die E-Mail öffnen nicht” has been marked incorrect, and I am told ...
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When can you move the verb at the end of a sentence to the beginning? [duplicate]
I have a friend from Switzerland with whom I text almost exclusively in German. I asked her how many people are coming to a small gathering she's hosting and she replied with this:
Zugesagt haben bis ...
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2
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How is this word order rationalized?
I wished to translate:
That would be the wise thing to do.
I tried:
Das würde sein, das weise Ding zu tun.
But DeepL tells me it needs to be:
Das würde, das weise Ding zu tun sein.
(Not sure ...
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On the topic of Kausalsätze
Here are two sentences from my grammar textbook: 1)"Ich musste zu Fuß nach Hause gehen, weil ich die letzte Straßenbahn verpasst hatte"; 2)"Du musst langsam sprechen, weil der versteht ...
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Word order when negating definite objects
On the topic of negation in the German language. I understand that "nicht" can be used to apply targeted negation on definite nouns, i.e., the ones that come with definite modifiers. ...
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Wortreihenfolge: "Rede ich ungern drüber."
In diesem Video um 0:48 sagt eine Deutsche, die auf der Straße interviewt wird und gerade gefragt wurde, "Was verdienst du?", "Rede ich ungern drüber." Warum hat sie ihre Antwort ...
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Where does the "sich" go?
Attempting to translate
I don’t think you’ll have to bother much with the controls.
I said:
Ich glaube, du wirst dich um die Steuerungen nicht viel brauchen zu scheren.
but then thought that it ...
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"Da" position in subordinate clauses
Why does da change the position in this subordinate clause?
Meine Tante wohnt in Berlin, weil … Sie hat da eine große Wohnung.
Meine Tante wohnt in Berlin, weil sie eine groβe Wohnung da hat.
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Etwas wurde kein Partizip Perfekt vs. Kein etwas wurde Partizip Perfekt (word order)
Why would you say "Zahlen wurden aber keine genannt." instead of "Keine Zahlen wurden aber genannt."? To me it sounds wrong. Or maybe they could have opted for Zahlen wurden aber ...
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Word order in "Er sagt das mir" or "Er sagt mir das"
I don't understand the word order in "Er sagt das mir" or "Er sagt mir das"
Which one is correct or are both correct?
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What determines the order of words when giving a sign impatiently?
I wanted to translate this:
He motioned impatiently for silence.
and said:
Er gab ein Zeichen ungeduldig, um um Ruhe zu bitten.
But I was corrected with:
Er gab ungeduldig ein Zeichen, um um Ruhe ...
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Translating "Droht Niederösterreich bald Demokratie?"
I read the following headline in a satirical newspaper:
ÖVP nur bei 39%: Droht Niederösterreich bald Demokratie?
Initially, I read it as "ÖVP at only 39%: Is Lower Austria threatening democracy ...
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Why does the position of the verb vary?
Why is the verb not consistently in the 2nd position in these sentences?
So weit ich weiß.
So weit das Auge reicht.
So weit ich zurückdenken kann.
So weit reichen meine Fähigkeiten nicht.
So weit ...
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2
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"Lassen" plus modal verb plus double infinitive
Why is it correct to say:
Ich habe das machen lassen müssen.
Why is it not correct to say:
Ich habe das müssen machen lassen.
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Is my translation correct?
The sentence is:
Is your brother well now?
My answer:
Ist deinem Bruder (Dative) besser jetzt.
Correct answer:
Geht es deinem Bruder jetzt besser.
In my answer I feel now that "deinem ...
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2
answers
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Why does accusative pronoun come before dative pronoun?
So according to my grammar book, when a sentence consists of two pronouns objects the accusative pronoun always precedes the dative pronoun:
Ich kaufe dem Mann die Uhr.
Ich kaufe sie ihm.
Is there ...
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1
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Grammatical accuracy with re-arranged parts of a sentence
Consider the following English sentence:
Yesterday, I drove in the city with my mother.
I believe the correct way of saying it in German is:
Gestern bin ich mit meiner Mutter in die Stadt gefahren.
...
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2
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Komm mit zum Surfen oder Komm zum Surfen mit?
Komm mit zum Surfen!
Komm zum Surfen mit!
I figured out that we either write them in the Mittelfeld or the Nachfeld, and the Particle stays in the Rechte Klammer. Are these two just options you have, ...
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Word Order of expressions like Urlaub machen, Deutsch üben
I came across two sentences:
Wir machen jeden Sommer am See Urlaub.
Mein Vater übt gern mit dem Pferd Deutsch
I've looked at some explanations of word order, and they are respectively:
since many ...
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Is this word order correct? Why?
I'm studying with Duolingo and occasionally check with other sources for grammar.
For complements, I have read, as a general rule, that
in German the direct object is obligatorily placed before the ...
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Word Order for complex sentences?
In the sentence
Die Tests gibt euch dann morgen der Markus zurück.
the structure is
[Objekt] [Verb] [Objekt] [Adverbiale] [Subjekt] [Rest of the Verb]
Is it possible and grammatically correct, ...
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Is the word order after "denn" correct?
In the following sentence, is the word order after "denn" correct? I thought that after the word "denn", the verb is supposed to be in the second position?
Als Hassobjekt war er ...
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Is the sentence "Er trifft seine Mitbewohner im Café jeden Tag" wrong ? Why?
On a German teaching website, the sentence Er trifft seine Mitbewohner im Café jeden Tag was marked wrong as the translation of He meets his roommates at the coffee shop every day. On the other hand, ...
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What does "her" at the end of a sentence mean?
Jetzt ist das fünf Jahr her.
I found this sentence in a documentary I was seeing. What does "her" at the end mean? What grammatical object is it?
Some source say it is adverb, if so, ...
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Placement of genitive of proper names
Among others exhibiting similar variations, these sentences appear in DWDS:
Um eine echte Atmosphäre aus Partikeln und Gas festzuhalten, ist Merkurs Schwerkraft einfach zu schwach.
"Wir nehmen ...
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1
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Can you break up a sentence or clause in a poem in order to put the verb in the right position.?
I am writing a poem, the key line of which could be,
Mein Liebling ist vertraute.
A verb is supposed to occupy the second position of a sentence. The above follows this pattern. So does an ...
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What can I put on the first place in a narrative sentence, if a subject is on the third place?
From the beginning of my German learning way I've always heard that anything can be put on the first or on the third position in a narrative sentence and the only thing you have to do is just to put a ...
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Why "alle" is supposed to be put after a declensioned pronoun, but not before?
Writing a practical letter I've faced with next very simple sentence:
Er liebt uns alle.
And why is the only right word order "uns alle" and can't be written as "alle uns"?
For ...
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"Sagt dir das etwas?" — warum steht das Dativobjekt vor dem Subjekt?
Normalerweise steht das Subjekt in Ja/Nein-Fragen an zweiter Stelle, sofort nach dem Verb.
Hast du einen Wagen?
Aber im folgenden Satz kommt das Objekt vor das Subjekt:
Sagt dir das etwas?
Ich ...
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4
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What determines the placement of weiter?
I have had the impression that adverbs stay close to the verb in German word order. So why is this incorrect (as I was told):
Der Traktor rollte weiter 10 Fuß.
and this is instead correct?
Der ...
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4
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"keine Zähne putzen" oder "die Zähne nicht putzen"?
Wie ich verstanden habe, es gibt einige Verben/Konstruktionen, die immer ein Objekt oder eine adverbiale Bestimmung brauchen. Ich habe mich daran gewöhnt, diese Objekte/Bestimmungen als trennbare ...
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Is there any difference between "jetzt schon" and "schon jetzt"?
Are "jetzt schon" and "schon jetzt" interchangeable? Is one more commonly used than the other? Is one more "formal"?
For example:
Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf das ...
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Can I rewrite this sentence in this way?
Wir haben nur eine kleine Wohnung, sind aber damit zufrieden.
Can I rewrite the above sentence in this way:
Wir haben nur eine kleine Wohnung, aber wir sind damit zufrieden.
If yes, which sentence ...
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