German Conjunctions
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
What are conjunctions and when do you use them? In German, as in English you use conjunctions to join together clauses and parts of clauses. In English we use such words as ‘and', 'but', 'when', 'if,' because.’ Equivalent words in German include ‘und', 'aber', 'als', 'wenn and 'weil’ to join clauses. There are various kinds of conjunctions; the main ones are coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions and adverbial conjunctions.
[edit] Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions will join two main clauses together without interfering with the word order of either of the clauses. The five main coordinating conjunctions in German are as follows:
- und – and (zB: 'Ich esse ein Brötchen und ich trinke ein Glas Milch')
- aber – but (zB: 'ch trinke gern Apfelsaft aber ich trinke lieber Orangensaft')
- denn – because, for (zB: 'Ich bringe meinen Regenschirm mit, denn es wird wahrscheinlich später regnen').
- Oder – or
- Sondern – but rather
Note: You can see quite clearly that the two clauses the conjunction joins can also exist independently. The first idea and the verb remain in their usual positions.
[edit] Subordinating conjunctions
The role of the subordinating conjunction is to join a main clause and subordinate clause. In German the subordinating conjunction sends the main verb to the end of the sentence. For example: 'Ich esse ein Brötchen, weil ich Hunger habe'. The main subordinating conjunctions are as follows:
- 'als' when
- 'obgleich' although
- 'als ob' as if
- 'obwohl' although
- 'bevor' before
- 'ohne dass' without
- 'bis' until
- 'seit (dem)' since
- 'da' since
- 'sobald ' as soon as
- 'damit' in order that
- 'so dass' so that
- 'dass' that
- 'während' while, during
- 'falls' in case that
- 'weil' because
- 'indem' by ...ing
- 'wenn' if
- 'nachdem' after
- 'wie' as
- 'ob' whether
[edit] Adverbial conjunctions
An adverb usually gives you more information about a verb. In German, when you use adverbial conjunctions the verb comes immediately after the conjunction, even before the pronoun.
- 'Die Sonne scheint, trotzdem können wir nicht draußen spazieren gehen'.
The main adverbial conjunctions are as follows:
- 'so' therefore, so
- 'zwar' while it is true
- 'auch' also, too
- 'deshalb' therefore, so
- 'darum' therefore, so
- 'auch nicht' not either
- 'außerdem' besides
- 'jedoch' however, yet
- 'da' then, as
- 'dennoch ' yet, nevertheless
- 'kaum' hardly
- 'also' therefore, so
- 'trotzdem' in spite of that
- 'sonst' otherwise
- 'daher' therefore, so
