The sentence structure determines the position of the sentence parts. It is very important in German and can be very complicated.
The Basics
Rule 1: A regular sentence in German could have:
- a) subject (Ich) - verb 1 (gehe) - object (in den Supermarkt).
This works for simple sentences on the beginner level.
- b) subject (Der Mann) - verb 1 (ist) - indirect object (mit der Frau) - some more facts (um 9 Uhr morgens) - direct object (zum Supermarkt) / verb 2 (gegangen).
This sentence structure appears on more advanced levels.
First Position in the Sentence
Rule 2: If we want to emphasize what is most important, we'll put it in the first position in the sentence.
Second Position in the Sentence
Rule 3: In the basic sentence structure, the verb is always in second position in a regular sentence.
Sentence Brackets and Second Verb
Rule 4: Some verbs have a prefix or are used in combination with another verb. In main clauses, the conjugated verb stays in the second position, as usual, but the prefix or the second verb goes to the end of the sentence. This creates a sentence bracket. We stuff all important information in between.
We can have sentence brackets with:
- Perfect tense, where participle 2 will stand in the last position.
- Modal verbs, where an infinitive will stand in the last position.
- Prefixes, when a verb is separable: