45 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Conjunctions"
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description: "German coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, doch, denn) and subordinating conjunctions (dass, weil, wenn, als, ob, etc.) — with examples and verb-position rules."
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source: "https://germanforenglishspeakers.com/other/conjunctions"
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crawled: "2026-06-30"
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---
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# Conjunctions
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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:
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**Coordinating Conjunctions** (verb stays in 2nd position in both clauses)
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| Conjunction | Meaning | Example |
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|---|---|---|
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| **und** | and | _Du machst das noch mal **und** ich gehe ohne dich._ (You do that again and I'm going without you.) |
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| **oder** | or | _Du hörst auf damit **oder** ich gehe._ (You stop it or I'll leave.) |
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| **aber** | but | _Ich wollte es abholen, **aber** der Laden hatte schon zu._ (I wanted to pick it up, but the store was already closed.) |
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| **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.) |
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| **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.) |
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**Subordinating Conjunctions** (verb moves to end of subordinate clause)
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| Conjunction | Meaning | Example |
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|---|---|---|
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| **dass** | that | _Ich will, **dass** du deine Hausaufgaben machst._ (I want you to do your homework.) \[_dass_ is often required in German where "that" is optional in English\] |
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| **wenn** | if, when | _**Wenn** du möchtest, kannst du bei mir bleiben._ (If you'd like, you can stay with me.) \[use for present, future, and repeated past events\] |
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| **immer wenn** | whenever | _**Immer wenn** es regnet, muss ich an dich denken._ (Whenever it rains, I think of you.) |
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| **weil** | because | _Ich komme zu spät, **weil** ich eine Reifenpanne hatte._ (I'm arriving late because I had a flat tire.) |
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| **sobald** | as soon as | _Wir reden darüber, **sobald** ich zurück bin._ (We'll talk about it as soon as I'm back.) |
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| **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.) |
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| **nachdem** | after | _Sie kamen an, **nachdem** alles schon vorbei war._ (They arrived after everything was already over.) |
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| **als** | as, when, while | _Ich bin gestolpert, **als** ich aus dem Bus stieg._ (I stumbled as I was getting off the bus.) \[use for single past events; use _wenn_ for repeated events\] |
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| **da** | because, since | _Sie fuhren gerne Rad, **da** ihnen die Bewegung gut tat._ (They enjoyed cycling because being active did them good.) |
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| **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.) |
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| **ob** | whether | _Ich weiss nicht, ob er alt genug ist._ (I don't know whether he's old enough.) \[often translates to "if" in casual English\] |
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| **obwohl** | although | _Ich habe zugesagt, **obwohl** ich Bedenken hatte._ (I agreed, although I had my doubts.) |
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| **solange** | so long as | _**Solange** du hier bist, kannst du dich nützlich machen._ (As long as you're here, you can make yourself useful.) |
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| **während** | while, during | _**Während** du auf mich wartest, kannst du die Zeitung lesen._ (While you're waiting for me, you can read the paper.) |
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| **bis** | until | _Ich bleibe hier, **bis** du zurückkommst._ (I'll wait here till you come back.) |
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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.
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[Continue to next section >>](/other/two-part-conjunctions.md)
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