After dass. Subordinate clauses in German

There are different ways to express time in German. If some event or action (action) took place in the past only once, then the German conjunction “als” is used, for example:

• Als Thomas Sarah sah, war sie schon zu einer Tasse Kaffee eingeladen. – When Thomas saw Sarah, she had already been invited to a cup of coffee (formerly a one-time action).
• Als unser Vater nach Hause kam, war das Abendessen schon fertig. – When our father came home, dinner was already ready (in the past it was a one-time action).

When actions or phenomena are not of a one-time nature, and they occur repeatedly, the German conjunction “wenn” is used, for example:

• Immer wenn Thomas Sarah sah, war sie schon zu einer Tasse Kaffee eingeladen. – Whenever Thomas saw Sarah, she was already invited to a cup of coffee (multiple action in the past).
• Jeweils wenn unser Vater nach Hause kam, war das Abendessen schon fertig. – Every time our father came home, dinner was already ready (in the past - multiple actions).
• Wenn er eine günstigere Lösung findet, muss er sich bei uns melden. – When he finds a more profitable solution, he must inform us (in the future - one-time action).
• Wenn er Fehler findet, muss er uns sofort darüber informieren. – When he finds errors, he must immediately inform us about it (in the future - multiple actions).
• Wenn du das erforderliche Spielzeug findest, sage mir Bescheid. – If you find the right toy, tell me (single action in the future).
• Wenn Barbara in der Schule frühstücken wird, müßt ihr das bezahlen. – If Barbara has breakfast at school, you must pay for it (multiple action in the future).

There are speech situations when a thought can be expressed without using a subordinate clause. In such situations, subordinate clauses are replaced with the words “ meanwhile – inzwischen" or "then - dann", which, as a rule, take on the functions of minor members and require the use of reverse word order in sentences (otherwise, they take places after the main members within statements), for example:

• Zuerst kam Holger an, danach kann sein Neffe. “Holger arrived first, and then his nephew arrived.
• Zunächst hat unser Chef diese Entscheidung getroffen, dann verstand er seinen Fehler. “At first our boss made this decision, and then he realized his mistake.
• Seine Kollegen führten alle Versuche durch, inzwischen bekam unsere Vertriebsabteilung neue Vorschriften. “His colleagues have already carried out all the tests, and in the meantime our sales department has received new instructions.
• Alle Familienangehörigen waren gerade beim Abendessen, da klopfte jemand an der Tür. “All the family members were just having dinner when someone knocked on the door.

In addition to the above-mentioned conjunctions, “wann" can also be used to express temporary relations - interrogative pronoun, For example:

• Wann bekomme ich meinen Stempel? – When will I receive my stamp?
• Jennifer weiß nicht, wann sie ihren Koffer bekommt. Jennifer doesn’t know when she will receive her suitcase.

Between "wann" and "wenn" there is a definite difference and should not be confused. When the moment at which an event will occur is unknown, "wann" is used, for example:

• Die Kinder wissen nicht, wann der Spiel beginnt. – The children don’t know when the game will start.
• Wisst ihr, wann wir die nächste Lieferung bekommen? – Do you know when we will receive the next delivery?

Subordinate clauses (adv.) are dependent clauses that are not used without the main clause.

Characteristic signs of coming. sentence are:

1. Special arrangement of words
2. Inseparability of separable prefixes of such sentences;
3. Inclination (conjunctiva);
4. Subordinating conjunctions connect two clauses.

Subordinate clause Maybe:

Stand after the main Meine Tochter sagt, dass sie die Hausaufgabe gemacht hat.

(My daughter said she did her homework)

Stand in front of the main Während wir in Köln wohnten, sprachen wir nur Deutsch.

(While we lived in Cologne, we only spoke German)

To be inserted into the main Der Kino, der ich gesehen habe, hat beendet.

(The movie I was watching is over)

Word order in subordinate clauses. (Wortfolge im Nebensatz):

1) General order: Ich ärgere mich, weil du das Brot nicht gekauft hat.

(I'm angry because you didn't buy bread)

From here we see that the main sentence. remains unchanged, and in the approx. the words are in the following order:

2) Conjunctions and words always come at the beginning of the sentence. preposition. The exception is prepositions that can appear before relative pronouns (places). Then comes the subject.

Example: Ich erkannte, mit wem ich nach Perm fahre. (I found out with whom I will go to Perm)

3) The verb being modified is in the very last place. It is also characterized by the inseparability of the prefix.

For example: Er erfuhr, dass du fortgefahren bist. (He found out that you left)

4) The penultimate place will be occupied by the unchangeable part of the predicate

Du hast vergessen, dass er dir gesagt hat. (You forgot what he told me)

Ich finde, dass du sehr nett bist (I think you are very pretty)

5) Refundable seats. sich is written after the subject expressed by the personal place., with the pronouns man and es.

Example: Ich habe gehört, dass er sich zum Ausflug verspätet hat. (I heard he was late for his flight)

I.G. Knyazeva, German language teacher, MBOU Secondary School No. 15 Art. Rogovskaya

Compound sentences in German
(difficulty 11th grade)

A compound sentence in German (Satzreihe) consists of two or more independent clauses combined in meaning. In complex sentences, the connection between sentences can be conjunction or non-conjunction.

Der Vorgang ging auf, die Auffűhrung begann.

Gestern wollten wir einen Ausflug machen, aber es regnete den ganzen Tag und wir mussten zu Hause bleiben.

The main means of communication between sentences in German are coordinating conjunctions: und (and, a), aber (but, however), denn (since, because), oder (or, either), sondern (a, but), sowie (and also, like and), as well as adverbs with temporary, investigative and other meanings: dann, danach (then, then, after that), doch (still, nevertheless), jedoch (however, nevertheless), deshalb (because), deswegen (therefore, for this reason), darum (therefore), also (so, therefore, therefore), sonst (otherwise, otherwise), dabei (besides, at the same time), dazu ( beyond this, in addition), zwar (true, although), und zwar (namely), űbrigens (however), auβerdem (in addition), trotzdem (despite this).

The order of words in compound sentences of the German language that are part of it depends on the conjunction or allied word.
Most coordinating conjunctions do not affect word order. These include conjunctions: und, aber, auch, denn, oder, sondern.

Die Eltern gehen ins Theatre, aber ich bleibe zu Hause.
Word order is influenced by conjunctions and conjunctions - adverbs: darum, deshalb, deswegen, dann, trotzdem, zwar, sonst, dabei, dazu, űbrigens.

For example: Meine Schwester erzählte mir sehr viel von diesem Film, deshalb möchte ich mir ihn ansehen.
Im Foyer betrachteten sie die Bilder der Schauspieler, dann gingen asie in den Zuschauerraum.

Conjunctions that allow fluctuations in word order: doch, jedoch, also. For example: Sie ist schon 80 Jahre alt, doch arbeitet sie bis heute im Theater.

The order of words in the main clause in both compound and complex sentences, with the exception of some nuances, coincides with the word order of a simple sentence.

Compound Sentences

As in Russian, a compound sentence in German consists of two equal sentences connected by a coordinating conjunction. The word order in all sentences coincides with the word order of the simple sentence. Coordinating conjunctions such as und, aber, denn, oder, sondern do not take up space in the sentence and do not affect the word order of the sentence they introduce:

Die Eltern fahren nach Italien und die Tante sorgt für die Kinder. — The parents are leaving for Italy, and the aunt will look after the children.

After these conjunctions, as in any simple sentence, inversion can be observed:

Die Eltern fahren nach Italien und für die Kinder sorgt die Tante. — The parents are leaving for Italy, and their aunt will look after the children.

However, there are coordinating conjunctions that affect the order of words in the sentence they lead, since they occupy a place in the sentence, i.e. are its full member. Such unions include : darum, trotzdem, folglich, dann, anderseits, sonst and some others. Since they are an equal member of the sentence, in the sentence they introduce they can occupy not only the very first position, but also the position following the conjugated part of the predicate:

Franz hatte sich sehr beeilt, trotzdem kam er zu spät. — Franz was in a hurry, but still he arrived too late.

Franz hatte sich sehr beeilt, er kam trotzdem zu spät. — Franz was in a hurry, but he still arrived too late.

You can link a whole series of statements into a complex sentence. And if they are connected by an alliance und and the subject of these sentences coincides, it may not be repeated. But if the subject in the statement is not in first place, which happens with inversion, then its use is necessary:

Here the subject in the second sentence can be omitted:

Er h ö rte nur kurz zu und war sofort dagegen. - He just This

Here the subject in the second sentence is necessary:

Er h ö rte nur kurz zu und sofort war er dagegen . — He just This I listened and was immediately against it.

In general, all the rules for the word order of a simple sentence are equally valid for each part of a complex sentence with any conjunctions, but you just need to remember about the conjunctions that are full members of the sentence they introduce.

Complex sentences

Complex sentences consist of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses dependent on it. Subordinate clauses form a single whole with the main one and, as a rule, are not used separately from it.

From a grammatical point of view, subordinate clauses are complete, i.e. they always contain a subject and a predicate. Even if the subject in a subordinate clause coincides with the subject of the main clause, it cannot be omitted.

The subordinate clause is attached to the main clause with the help of subordinating conjunctions, which give the sentence a certain meaning.

In subordinate clauses, the subject usually comes after the conjunction, and the conjugated part predicate is at the end of the sentence. The order of the other members of the sentence is the same as in a simple common sentence:

Die Zerstörungen waren so groß, so dass das Land andrere Nationen um Hilfe gebeten hat . — The destruction was so great that the country asked for help from other countries.

Subordinate clauses can appear either after or before the main clause.

The subordinate clause comes after the main clause:

Er schrieb seiner Tante, als er Geld brauchte. — He wrote to his aunt when he needed money.

The subordinate clause comes before the main clause:

Als er Geld brauchte, schrieb er seiner Tante. — When he needed money, he wrote to his aunt.

If the subordinate clause precedes the main clause, then in the main clause the conjugated part of the predicate comes immediately after the decimal point, and the subject is in third (or fourth place). In this case, the subordinate clause is, as it were, one member of the main clause, standing in first place, and thus inversion takes place in the main clause.

Just like in a simple sentence, the pronoun in the subordinate clause is placed, if possible, at the beginning of the sentence - immediately after the conjunction:

Wenn dir die Wohnung nicht gef ä llt , brauchst du sie nicht zu nehmen. - If you don’t like the apartment, then you have no reason to agree to rent it.

Subordinate clauses can also refer not only to the main clause, but also to another subordinate clause or infinitive group:

Er ärgerte sich, weil sie ihn nicht begrüßtte, als er ankam. “He got angry because she didn’t greet him when he came in.”

Der Besucher fürchtet, die Gastgäber zu kränken, wenn er das Hammelfleisch zurückweist. — The guest is afraid that he will offend the host if he refuses the lamb dish.

Infinitive phrases

The German language has special infinitive phrases um...zu, ohne...zu, anstatt...zu, which are independent subordinate constructions and largely determine the meaning of the infinitive phrase they introduce.

Infinitive phrase um…zu names a goal, intention, desire:

Ich fahre nach München, um dort zu studieren - I'm going to Munich to study there

Infinitive phrase ohne...zu means that the expected action does not occur or has not occurred:

Er verließ die Party, ohne sich zu verabschieden. — He left the party without saying goodbye.

Infinitive phrase anstatt…zu means that someone behaves differently than usual:

Er ging ins Ausland, anstatt das Geschäaft seines Vaters zu übernehmen - He went abroad instead of taking over his father's business.

Such infinitive phrases do not have their own subject. They refer to the designation of a person or thing in the main clause, serving as the subject. They can appear either before or after the main clause:

Er verließ seine Heimat, um im Ausland zu studieren - He left his homeland to study abroad.

Um im Ausland zu studieren verließ er seine Heimat - He left his homeland to study abroad.

But if the subject of the main and subordinate constructions are different, then not an infinitive phrase is used, but a full-fledged subordinate clause with conjunctions damit, ohne...das, anstatt...dass.

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Subordinate clauses of purpose answer the question “Wozu?” (For what?) and “Zu welchem ​​Zweck?” (For what purpose?).

If both parts of the sentence talk about the same subject, then the subordinate clause of the goal is connected to the main clause with the conjunction “um”, followed by all other members of the sentence, and the infinitive with “zu” appears at the end of the sentence.

Ich(= I) = ich(= I)

• Ich lerne fleißig Deutsch. Ich will in Deutschland studieren.
  I'm studying German hard. I want to study in Germany.
• Ich lerne fleißig Deutsch, um in Germany zu studieren.
  I am studying German hard so that I can study in Germany.

• Zwei Škoda-Automechaniker fahren in ein einsames, österreichisches Alpendorf, um Ski zu fahren.
  Two Škoda auto mechanics head to a secluded Austrian Alpine village to go skiing.

In a sentence with “um…zu” the modal verb “wollen” is not used.

• Laura sieht sich oft Filme an. Sie will mit den Freunden darüber reden.
  Laura often watches films. She wants to talk about it with her friends.
• Laura sieht sich oft Filme an, um will mit den Freunden darüber zu reden.
  Laura often watches films to talk about it with friends.

If both parts of the sentence have different subjects, then the subordinate clause of the goal (Finalsatz) is connected to the main clause with the conjunction “damit”. After the conjunction, there is a subordinate clause (subject + other members of the sentence + predicate at the end).

Ich(= I) ≠ my Chef(= My boss)

• Ich lerne fleißig Deutsch. Mein Chef soll zufrieden sein.
  I'm studying German. My boss should be pleased.
• Ich lerne fleißig Deutsch, damit mein Chef zufrieden ist.
  I'm learning German to make my boss happy.