Key Points about verb positions
- A verb is a doing word. It describes an action, such as dance, laugh or swim.
- In German, the position of the verb is very important in a sentence.
- The verb must be the second idea in a Contains a verb and has one main idea.. For example:
Vor der Schule spielt Emily Fußball.
Before school, Emily plays football.
Video
Watch this video to refresh your memory about word order in German.
Learn about the correct word order in German.
Word order: How to build sentences in German
In German the order you say and write things is important. For example, the verb is always the second idea in the sentence. Not necessarily the second word but the second idea.
Ich esse Pizza - I eat pizza.
Ich is the first idea and esse is the second idea.
But if you put oft - ‘often’ - first, the word order changes like this:
Oft is the first idea and because the verb has to be the second idea you flip the verb and the subject round to esse ich, so it would literally be Often eat I pizza.
Sometimes the first idea is not just one word but a phrase like jeden Tag - ‘every day’.
Jeden Tag esse ich Pizza - Every day I eat pizza.
Now, there are some situations where parts of verbs get booted to the end of the sentence.
For example in the perfect tense, the past participle goes to the end of the sentence.
Ich habe eine Pizza mit meinen Freunden gegessen - I have eaten a pizza with my friends.
And when you use modal verbs like ich will - ‘I want to’ - the infinitive goes to the end of the sentence.
Ich will Pizza essen - I want to eat pizza.
So with the verb as the second idea and some verbs booted to the end of the sentence you should start to get your words in the right order.
Key points Flashcards
The verb as the second idea
Word order in German can be different to word order in English. In German, the A verb is a doing word. It describes an action, such as dance, laugh or swim. is always the second idea in a sentence.
An idea in a sentence can be one word:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - I play tennis.
- ich is the first idea and the verb spiele is the second idea.
The idea can also be more than one word:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - My sister and I play tennis.
- Meine Schwester und ich is the first idea and the verb spielen is the second idea.
Modal verbs
If there is a A verb which shows ability, permission, necessity, obligation or possibility eg can, must, should, want. in the sentence, the conjugated modal verb is second and the Is the form of the verb you will find in a dictionary before the verb is conjugated. It is the basic form of the verb. In German in infinitive ends in -en or -n and the equivalent in English is (to) to play, to go, to listen. goes to the end of the sentence:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - You are not allowed phones in school.
- man is the first idea and the modal verb darf is the second idea.
Perfect tense
In the Is used to express events which have happened in the past. the conjugated Is a helping verb which is used to form the perfect tense. In German the auxiliary verb can be haben or sein. (haben or sein) is second and the Is the past tense form of the verb eg gespielt (played) or gehört (listened). goes to the end of the sentence:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - I did my homework / I have done my homework.
- ich is the first idea and the auxiliary verb habe is the second idea.
Mini quiz
Identify the verb in these sentences.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.
fahren is the verb.
We are travelling to Wales in the summer.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.
gehen is the verb.
My step-brother and I like going to the cinema.
Inversion
If a sentence starts with something other than a pronoun, for example a Also known as a time adverb, indicates when and for how long an action is taking place., the Means changing the verb ending to match the person doing the action. and Is the person or thing performing the action. must be swapped around. This is called inversion.
For example:
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - In my free time, I like listening to music.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - Last week, I celebrated my birthday.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - After school, I will go into town.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - We have to/must wear a uniform at school.
Ordering activity
Using connectives
When linking sentences together using the Is a linking word which joins sentences together.undand, aberbut, dennbecause or oderor word order stays the same and the verb is the second idea.
For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - I live in a city and there is always lots going on.
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - I like eating pizza but I don’t like eating fried sausage.
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - I often play computer games after school or I go to the park with my friends.
Mini quiz
Identify the verbs in these sentences.
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lese and finde are the verbs.
I like reading fantasy books, but I find crime fiction too gruesome.
- Check your connection, refresh the page and try again.
fährt and trennt are the verbs.
My father always cycles and my brother often separates the rubbish.
Quiz
Answer these questions about sentence structure to check your understanding.
More on Word order
Find out more by working through a topic
- count2 of 3
- count3 of 3
