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| Conjunctions | German coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, doch, denn) and subordinating conjunctions (dass, weil, wenn, als, ob, etc.) — with examples and verb-position rules. | https://germanforenglishspeakers.com/other/conjunctions | 2026-06-30 |
Conjunctions
In German there's an important distinction between subordinating conjunctions, which send the verb to the end in the following (subordinated) clause, and coordinating conjunctions, which link two main clauses and keep each clause's conjugated verb in the second position. There are only five one-word coordinating conjunctions – three main ones that you already know if you've made it this far, and two that are a bit less common. We've underlined the conjugated verbs so you can see how they stay in the second position in both clauses:
Coordinating Conjunctions (verb stays in 2nd position in both clauses)
| Conjunction | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| und | and | Du machst das noch mal und ich gehe ohne dich. (You do that again and I'm going without you.) |
| oder | or | Du hörst auf damit oder ich gehe. (You stop it or I'll leave.) |
| aber | but | Ich wollte es abholen, aber der Laden hatte schon zu. (I wanted to pick it up, but the store was already closed.) |
| doch | but, and yet | [more lyrical than aber, often expresses a mild paradox] Jahre vergehen, doch die Liebe bleibt. (Years go by, but love remains.) |
| denn | because, for | [softer than weil; used when the hearer already knows the reason] Bleibe bei uns, denn es will Abend werden. (Stay with us, for evening is nigh.) |
Subordinating Conjunctions (verb moves to end of subordinate clause)
| Conjunction | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dass | that | Ich will, dass du deine Hausaufgaben machst. (I want you to do your homework.) [dass is often required in German where "that" is optional in English] |
| wenn | if, when | Wenn du möchtest, kannst du bei mir bleiben. (If you'd like, you can stay with me.) [use for present, future, and repeated past events] |
| immer wenn | whenever | Immer wenn es regnet, muss ich an dich denken. (Whenever it rains, I think of you.) |
| weil | because | Ich komme zu spät, weil ich eine Reifenpanne hatte. (I'm arriving late because I had a flat tire.) |
| sobald | as soon as | Wir reden darüber, sobald ich zurück bin. (We'll talk about it as soon as I'm back.) |
| bevor | before | Ich hoffe, wir sehen uns noch mal, bevor ich das Land verlasse. (I hope we see each other again before I leave the country.) |
| nachdem | after | Sie kamen an, nachdem alles schon vorbei war. (They arrived after everything was already over.) |
| als | as, when, while | Ich bin gestolpert, als ich aus dem Bus stieg. (I stumbled as I was getting off the bus.) [use for single past events; use wenn for repeated events] |
| da | because, since | Sie fuhren gerne Rad, da ihnen die Bewegung gut tat. (They enjoyed cycling because being active did them good.) |
| seit, seitdem | since [a point in time] | Er konnte an nichts anderes mehr denken, seit er sie zum ersten Mal gesehen hatte. (He couldn't think of anything else since he had seen her for the first time.) |
| ob | whether | Ich weiss nicht, ob er alt genug ist. (I don't know whether he's old enough.) [often translates to "if" in casual English] |
| obwohl | although | Ich habe zugesagt, obwohl ich Bedenken hatte. (I agreed, although I had my doubts.) |
| solange | so long as | Solange du hier bist, kannst du dich nützlich machen. (As long as you're here, you can make yourself useful.) |
| während | while, during | Während du auf mich wartest, kannst du die Zeitung lesen. (While you're waiting for me, you can read the paper.) |
| bis | until | Ich bleibe hier, bis du zurückkommst. (I'll wait here till you come back.) |
Many Germans also use weil in speech as a coordinating conjunction, without moving the verb to the end afterwards. Often they're not even aware of it, although they would instantly see the mistake if it was used this way in writing.