Reversed word order in German. Simple sentences in German

Word order in a declarative sentence.

A German declarative sentence can have forward or backward word order. In both cases, the simple verbal predicate or the conjugated part of a complex predicate is in second place in the sentence; the first place may be the subject (direct word order) or the secondary member of the sentence (reverse word order).

Direct word order

Subject

Predicate

Die Bucher

liegen

hier

Books

lie

Here

Reverse word order

Secondary members of the sentence

Predicate

Subject

Hier

liegen

die Bücher

Here

lie

books

Word order in a question sentence

Interrogative sentences can be of two types:

a) interrogative sentences without a question word.

b) interrogative sentences with a question word.

Interrogative sentence no question word

Predicate

Subject

Secondary members of the sentence

Liegen

die Bücher

hier?

Are the books here?

Are there any books here?

Interrogative sentence with question word

Question word

Predicate

Subject

Secondary members of the sentence

Warum

liegen

die Bücher

hier?

Why

books

lie

Here?

The most common question words

Wer ? - Who? Wann ? - When?

Was ? - What? Seit wann ? - From what time?

Wo ? - Where? Bis wann ? - until what time?

Wohin ? - Where? Warum ? - Why?

Woher ? - where? Wozu ? - For what? for what purpose?

Wessen ? - whose? whose? whose? whose?

Wie lange ? - how long? Wie ? - How? which? which?

How much time? Which? which?

(process duration)

Welcher? - Which ? Wie spät ist es? - How much time ?

Welche ? - which? which? (what time is it now?)

Welches? - which ? Wie oft? - how often ?

Question word wessen is a definition of a noun and, together with the noun, occupies the first place in the sentence. The noun in this case is used without an article.

WessenBuchistdas? - Whose book is this?

Question wordwelcher (- es , - e , - e )? usually stands before a noun and agrees with it in gender, number and case. The article is not used before a noun.

WelcherTextistdas? What text is this?

Welches Buch nehmen Sie? Which book will you take? ?

Welche Vorlesung haben Sie jetzt?What lecture are you having now?

WelcheFragenhabenSie? What questions do you have?

Word order in a sentence with a nominal and complex verb predicate.

Direct word order.

Subject

Variable part

predicate

Minor

members

Nominal part

predicate

Meine Mutterist schon viele Jahre als Lehrerintätig.

My mother has been a teacher for many years.

Subject

Modifying part of the predicate

Minor members

The unchangeable part of the predicate

Meine Schwesterwill in diesem Jahr einen Fremdsprachenkursbesuchen .

My sister wants to attend foreign language courses this year.

Back order .

Minor member

Variable part

predicate

Subject

Secondary-

new members

Immutable part

predicate

Schon viele Jahreist meine Mutter als Lehrerintätig.

In diesem Jahrwill meine Schwester einen Fremdsprachenkursbesuchen .

Interrogative sentences without a question word.

Variable part

predicate

Subject

Minor

members

Unchangeable

May part

predicate

Ist tätig ?

Will deine Schwester in diesem Jahr einen Fremdsprachenkursbesuchen ?

Interrogative sentence with a question word.

Question word

Variable part

predicate

Subject

Minor members

N e change-

May part

predicate

Als wasist deine Mutter schon viele Jahretätig ?

Wannwill deine Schwester einen Fremdsprachenkursbesuchen ?

To consolidate the material you have learned, complete the following exercises.

1. Turn the following sentences into interrogative sentences (without the question word).

Sie heit Olga.

Sie wohnt in Tomsk.

Seine Familie ist groß.

Olgas Vater arbeitet in einem Betrieb.

Olgas Mutter ist Ärztin.

2. Make sentences from the following words.

von Beruf, sein, Sie, was

Studenten, ihr, sein

ich, studentin, noch, sein

sie, Lehrerin, sein

Viktor und Marina, aus, sein, Moscow

er, lernen, 2 Fremdsprachen

sie ( she ), viel, arbeiten

wir, Geschichte, studieren

ich, Freunde, viele, haben

mein Bruder, haben, Geburtstag, heute

3. Make up sentences with question words.

Wer, schon, ein Jahr, arbeiten, in der Schule

das Fernstudium, dauern, wie lange, an der Universität

welche Zeitungen, lesen, die Studenten

studieren, Sie, wo

dein Bruder, sein, in welchem ​​Studienjahr

die Studenten, haben, warum, heute, keinen Unterricht

ihr, studieren, wie lange, Mathematik, schon

von wann bis wann, heute, sein, Sie, im Labor

haben, wie oft, Sie, Deutschunterricht

das Buch, wessen, hier, liegen

4. Write the following sentences with the word order reversed, then change them into interrogatives.

1. Er erholt sich seit einigen Tagen im Sanatorium. 2. Sie setzt sich immer an diesen Tisch.3. Ich ziehe mich heute warm an. 4. Das Mädchen kämmt sich vor dem Spiegel. 5. Wir fühlen uns jetzt ganz gut. 6. Er rasiert sich jeden Tag elektrisch. 7. Ihr wascht euch morgens kalt. 8. Mein Kind erkältet sich oft. 9. Ich dusche mich im Badezimmer. 10. Der Lehrer unterhält sich im Korridor mit den Hörern.

In German word order is fixed.

What does it mean?

In Russian, we can arrange words in a sentence any way we want. We can arrange the words any way we want. We can arrange the words.

This trick won't work in German: need to know the rules and be sure to place part of the sentence in the place allocated to it.

This is especially difficult for beginners to get used to. That's why we wrote this article to help you maintain German word order.

1. Learn those conjunctions that change the order of words, and those that do not change it

There are different unions that affect the German supply in different ways.

"Normal" word order: Ich werfe den Ball. - I throw the ball.

Predicate in second place, subject on first.

By the way, it is also very important to remember that in a German declarative sentence the verb always comes second(excluding some situations described below)

These are the unions that do not change this order: und, denn, sondern, aber and oder.

Ich renne vorwärts und ich werfe den Ball.

Ich kann den Ball nicht gut treten, aber ich werfe den Ball ziemlich gut.

Entweder sagst du mir die Wahrheit, oder ich werfe dir den Ball ins Gesicht!

Ich bin stark, denn ich werfe jeden Tag im Basketball-Training den Ball.

As you can see, the word order after these conjunctions has not changed: the predicate werfe is in second place, the subject ich is in first place.

And here are those unions that change word order: während, bis, als, wenn, da, weil, ob, obwohl and dass.

We have listed the most popular ones, there are several more. Be careful with them: they “kick out” the predicate to the end of the sentence, changing the word order.

Ich kann ihn nicht leiden, weil er so ein egoistischer Idiot ist. - I can't stand him because he's a selfish idiot.

Actually, the word order should be like this: Er ist so ein egoistischer Idiot. But, as you can see, the weil union has changed this order. The same goes for other unions on this list:

Ich habe auch schon immer gedacht, dass er ein egoistischer Idiot ist.

Obwohl er ein egoistischer Idiot ist, sollten wir nett zu ihm sein.

2. If there is a modal verb, then the infinitive of the semantic verb goes to the end of the sentence

Here are the German modal verbs: müssen, können, sollen, möchten, wollen

As soon as you use a modal verb, you must immediately remember that the second verb will go to the end:

Wir mussen ihm heute helfen. - We have to help him.

Same thing with questions: Mussen wir ihm mit seinem Umzug nochmal helfen? - Should we help him move?

NEVER : Müssen wir helfen mit seinem blöden Umzug?

3. Don't forget about reverse word order

If the first place is not the subject, but the object, then you are dealing with reverse word order. There is nothing complicated about it, the main thing is not to forget that verb - in second place!

The Germans love order and adhere to it in everything. This also applies to language. Sentences in German have a special order and strict structure. The word order in a German sentence can be of three types:
-straight
-back
-order for subordinate clauses.
In an ordinary declarative sentence, direct word order is most often observed.
Meine Mutter bäckt den Kuchen. (My mother is baking a pie.)
In direct word order, the subject comes first, followed by the verb, and then the object.
If two verbs occur in a sentence, then one takes its rightful second place, and the second goes to the end of the sentence and takes the last place.
Ich möchte dich um eine Hilfe bitten. (I would like to ask you for help.)
This sentence contains a complex predicate consisting of two verbs: mögen (want, desire) and bitten (ask). In the first place in a simple sentence there will always be that part of the predicate that changes according to persons. Then come the secondary members of the sentence. And the second part of the predicate is at the end - in the form of an infinitive.
If the predicate is a verb with a separable prefix, then it goes to the end of the sentence.
Ich nehme an den Sprachkursen teil. (I take part in language courses.)
Within a sentence, circumstances are arranged in the following order: temporal, causal, modal and place adverbials.
Der berühmten Wissenschaftler wurde am 1. Juli 1826 in der reichen Familie eines Beamten geboren.
(The famous scientist was born on July 1, 1826, into a wealthy family of an official.)
The word order in a German sentence regarding objects is based on the following rules.
1) If there are two complements expressed by a noun, then the complement in the dative case will be in the first place (Dativ in the accusative (-), and Akkusativ in the second).
2) If one of the complements is a pronoun, then it will always come first.
3) And if two pronouns occur, then the pronoun in the accusative case (Akkusativ) will be in first place.
Der Lehrer gab der Schülerinnen schwere Aufgabe. (The teacher gave the students a difficult task)

In reverse word order, the first place in the sentence is occupied by the secondary member-addition or circumstance. In second place is the conjugated part of the predicate, and after it the subject. All other minor members are found at the end of the sentence.
In der Nacht patrouillieren Polizisten durch die Straßen. (Police patrol the streets at night.)
Von Zeit zu Zeit bekomme ich die Briefe. (I receive letters from time to time.)
If a sentence has an object without a preposition, expressed by a pronoun, then it will come before the subject.
Zum Glück befand sich ein Restaurant neben der Autobahn. (Luckily the restaurant was located next to the highway.)
The reverse order of words in a German sentence in relation to minor members is based on the same rules as for the forward order.

In complex sentences, the subordinate clause can be found either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.
If the subordinate clause comes after the main clause and is formed using the conjunctions dass (that), wenn (when), als (as or when), obwohl (although), ob (whether) or using the pronouns der (which), die (which) , das (which), then the verb in the subordinate part will appear at the end of the sentence. In this case, direct word order is established in the main clause.
Die Blätter werden rot, wenn der Herbst zu uns kommt. (The leaves turn red when autumn comes to us.)
If the subordinate clause comes before the main clause, then the word order changes only in the main clause, which now begins with a verb.
Wenn der Herbst zu uns kommt, werden die Blätter rot. (When autumn comes to us, the leaves turn red.)

After we have looked at the conjugation of verbs in the present tense, let's try to make a simple sentence - i.e. a sentence with one base (subject and predicate).

The subject denotes the subject of the action and answers the questions “who?”, “what?”, the predicate, as a rule, denotes the action and answers the question “what does it do?”. Let's look at different types of sentences: declarative, negative, interrogative and motivating.

Declarative sentence

A narrative sentence is a sentence that tells about some event, phenomenon or fact. Information in a declarative sentence can be affirmed or refuted, in which case the declarative sentence is considered negative.

So, the word order in a German sentence is usually direct, which means that the subject comes first (who does?), and then the predicate (what does?). For example: Ich (who?) wohne (what is doing?) in Berlin. — I live in Berlin.

In Russian, word order is free, but in German it is fixed, which means that each part of a sentence has its own place.

Remember, the verb in a declarative German sentence Always is in second place.

For example: I lerne Deutsch. — I'm learning German.

Let's give a few more examples. Don't forget about personal verb endings!

Ich esse Brot. - I eat bread.
Wir spielen Tennis. — We are playing tennis.
Er spielt Klavier. — He plays the piano.
Sie kommt morgen. - She comes tomorrow.

In addition to direct word order in a declarative sentence, reverse word order is also possible. Read the examples carefully:

Ich gehe ins Theater heute. — I'm going to the theater today.
Heute gehe ich ins Theater. — Today I’m going to the theater.
Ins Theater gehe ich heute. — I’m going to the theater today.

As you can see, in the first sentence there is a direct word order, in the other two - the reverse. Secondary members of the sentence (in this case - heute, ins Theater) can come first in the sentence. Verb Always stands on second.

Interrogative sentence

There are several types of interrogative sentences - with a question word (special) and without (general). A general question implies a yes or no answer, a special question requires a specific answer - where, when, under what circumstances, etc.

An interrogative sentence without a question word begins with a verb. For example:

Horst du? - Do you hear?
Bist du 18? -Are you eighteen?
Spielt sie Fußball? — Does she play football?

Interrogative sentences with a question word begin with a question word. For example:

Wer ist er? - Who is he?
Wo wohnst du? - Where do you live?
Wie heißen Sie? - What is your name?

There are few question words in German. Here they are:

Wer who
Was that
Wie how
Wann when
Wo where
Whoa where
Woher from (about country or origin)
Warum why
Wofür for what
Welcher (welche, welches; plural - welche) which, which, which; plural - which ones
Wie viel how much

In addition to general and special questions, the German language also has alternative questions - they are asked using the word oder - or. For example: Gehst du Fußball spielen oder gehst du nicht? Are you going to play football or not? Oder can also come at the end of a sentence and be separated by a comma. This does not affect the word order in the question. For example: Gehst du Fußball spielen, oder?

The second option is very often used in colloquial speech because it is very simple and convenient.

Negative sentence

A negative sentence is a declarative sentence in which some information is refuted. Negation is constructed using the negative particle nicht. If this particle is at the end of a sentence, then you are denying the entire sentence.

For example:

Ich gehe ins Theater nicht. - I'm not going to the theater.
Er wohnt in England nicht. - He doesn't live in England.

If you want to refute only part of the sentence, the particle nicht must be placed before the negated part. Here's an example:

Ich gehe nicht ins Kino. - I'm not going to the cinema.

Er wohnt nicht in England. - He does not live in England.

Incentive offer

The main purpose of an incentive offer is to encourage action. Incentive sentences begin with a verb and are constructed as follows:

Sagen Sie bitte! - Tell me please!

Geh mit mir! - Come with me!

We will look at the rules for forming incentive sentences in more detail over the course of several lessons. In the meantime, try to do a few simple exercises.

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Put the words in the correct order to make a declarative sentence.

1. gehe/ich/ins Kino
2. Sie/Milch/kauft
3. spielen/wir/zusammen
4. bin/Anna/ich
5. er/Tom/heißt
6. in Russland/wir/wohnen

Exercise 2. Make up questions for the sentences from Exercise 1.

Exercise 3. Make up negative sentences.

1. Ich liebe dich.
2. Sie trinkt Tee.
3. Wir sprechen Deutsch.
4. Er spielt Basketball.
5. Du bist stark.
6. Ich tanze germen.

Answer 1:

1. Ich gehe ins Kino.
2. Sie kauft Milch.
3. Wir spielen zusammen.
4. Ich bin Anna.
5. Er heißt Tom.
6. Wir wohnen in Russia

1. Gehst du ins Kino?
2. Kauft sie Milch?
3. Spielen wir zusammen?
4. Bist du Anna?
5. Heißt er Tom?
6. Wohnen wir in Russland?

1. Ich liebe dich nicht.
2. Sie trinkt tee nicht.
3. Wir sprechen Deutsch nicht.
4. Er spielt Basketball nicht.
5. Du bist stark nicht.
6. Ich tanze germn nicht.

In a German sentence, words do not appear in any form, but occupy a specific place. Germans love order in everything and pay close attention to the order of words in their sentences.
This is one of the basic rules of German grammar.

1. Simple declarative sentence

1.1 Verb in a sentence

Verb in a simple declarative sentence can only stand on second place, if there is only one in the sentence, i.e. simple predicate verb.

Robert hört am Morgen Music.
Robert listens to music in the morning.

Am Morgen hört Robert Musik.
Robert listens to music in the morning.

1.1.2 Verb with separable prefixes in a sentence

The German verb has detachable(always stressed) and inseparable (without emphasis) prefixes.

• 8 permanent attachments: be-,ge-,er-,ver-,zer-,emp-,ent-,miss .

♦ Separable prefixes are placed at the end of the sentence. As a rule, the stress in a German word falls on the first syllable.

Anton steht jeden Tag um 6 Uhr auf .
Anton rises every day at 6 o'clock.

Vera kauft mit Tanja ein .
Faith makes purchases(shopping) with Tanya.

1.1.3 Modal verbs in a sentence

Modal verbs (can, want, must, allowed, etc.) are always on second place. They are conjugated (changed according to faces). At the end of the sentence there is infinitive(infinitive).

Er kann heute nicht commen. —He can't come today.

Ich möchte bitte bezalen. — I would like to pay/settle.

Sie darf heute ins Disko gehen. — She was allowed to go to the disco.

1.1.4 Perfect in a sentence

perfect - This is the past spoken tense.

♦ Formed with an auxiliary verb sein(to be) or haben(to have) which always stand on second place and are conjugated, and at the end of the sentence there is Partizip2 .

Partizip2 formed using a prefix ge + verb root + en/t

Ich bin spat ge comm en. — I came late.

Ich habe das Fenster auf gemach t. — I opened the window.

◊ Verb sein used With verbs of motion, state changes

Er ist mit dem Bus gefahren. —He left by bus.

And also, with the following verbs: sein, werden, begegnen, gelingen, geschehen, bleiben, passieren .

Was ist passiert? - What's happened?

◊ Verb haben- with everyone else.

Ich habe das Buch gelesen. —I read the book.

♦Auxiliary verbs sein/haben are not translated, but only indicate that this is the past colloquial tense.

2. Incentive offers

express a request, order, etc.

Entschuldigen Sie! - Sorry!
Gehen Sie! - Go!
Fahre! - Go!
Mache das Fenster auf! - Open the window!

The verb is in 1st place in the incentive sentence.

3. Interrogative sentences

Was brauchen wir? Salz
What do we need? Salt
Brauchen wir Salz? ja/nein
Do we need salt? Not really
Haben Sie keinen Tee? Doch/Nein
Don't you have tea?

Doch is a positive answer to the negative in the question (we have).

The verb comes in 2nd place if the question begins with a question word.

By asking a question with a verb, we get an answer Not really.

The most frequently used question words:

Who? Wer? Wer Kommt aus Spanien? Ich komme aus Spanien.
How? Wie? Wie heißen Sie? Ich heiße Olga.
Where? Woher? Woher kommst du ? Ich komme aus Russland.
What? Was? Was spriechst du ? Ich spreche Russisch.
Where? Wo? Wo Wohnen Sie? Ich wohne in Bonn.

4. Comparison sentences

Das Haus hat nach der Renovierung viel größer ausgesehen als vorher .
The house after renovation looked much larger than before.

♦ Comparison(als vorher) comes at the end of the sentence.

So, we figured out the verb.

Let's repeat:

If there is only one verb, then it always takes the honorable 2nd place.

If there are several verbs, Then

on Worth 2nd place auxiliary , which changes according to persons (conjugates),

and at the end of the sentence there may be:

• or infinitive, if it acts as an auxiliary modal verb

Was kann ich machen? — What can I do?

• or Partizip2(past participle)

Er hat das Buch gelesen. — He read the book.

5. Dativ and Akkusativ add-ons

Everything in the middle (complement) is subject to the following rules:

• if two nouns act as additions, That noun in dative standing in front of noun in Akkusativ :

Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. — I give the man a book.

• pronoun costs before a noun: short before long:

Ich gebe ihm das Buch. — I give him the book.

• if there are two pronouns, then Akkusativ standing in front of Dativ:

Ich gebe es ihm. - I give it to him.

• time (when?) worth in front of the place(Where?):

Wir treffen uns am Freitag um 15 Uhr vor dem Bahnhof. — We will meet on Friday at 15 o'clock in front of the station.