German for Beginners
Der Tipp des Tages
German Learning Tip of the Day
Tipp Nr. 1 - Learning Tip 1
Tipp des Tages - Part of German for Beginners
German Word Order
Also known as "syntax," word order in a German sentence is often the same as in English: Subject, verb, rest of sentence. (Ich kaufe ein Buch. - I'm buying a book.) However, German is much more flexible about word order. For emphasis or sylistic reasons, a German sentence may often begin with an element other than the subject: Ein Buch kaufe ich. ("A book I'm buying."). But notice something about the two German sentences here — in both the verb is second, which brings us to this rule...
Verb second! In a normal declarative German sentence the verb is always the second element (not always the second word!). In other words, no matter what comes first, the conjugated German verb is always number two. Here is an example with three different versions of the same statement, with the verb in red:
Wir fahren heute nach Berlin.
We're going to Berlin today.
Heute fahren wir nach Berlin.
Today we're going to Berlin.
Nach Berlin fahren wir heute.
To Berlin we're going today.
Notice that in the English translations the location of the subject and verb differs from that in the German. In the German sentences the verb is always the second element. - To learn more about German word order (and grammar terms), see the lessons below:
MORE > Word Order in German - Part 1
MORE > Grammar Glossary - German grammar terms explained in plain English
MORE > Index: Tipps - All the daily tips
MORE > Lerntipps - General Learning Tips
BACK > Daily German Word for Beginners
MORE > English-German Glossaries
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