Conjunctions

Words that connect two ideas — and the two very different things they do to word order.

Two families

German conjunctions split into two groups, and the difference matters a lot for word order:

Coordinating conjunctions join two independent clauses without changing word order at all — the verb stays in position 2 in both clauses.

Subordinating conjunctions turn the second clause into a dependent one and send its conjugated verb all the way to the end. This is the same verb-final pattern from separable verbs and the Perfekt, just triggered by a different cause.

Coordinating conjunctions — word order unchanged

The five main coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember with the mnemonic ADUSO: aber (but), denn (because/for), und (and), sondern (but rather — only after a negation), oder (or). None of them count as "position 1" — each clause keeps its own normal verb-second order, as if it were two separate sentences glued together. A comma goes before aber, denn, and sondern; und and oder usually don't need one when joining two short clauses.

Ich koche, und du deckst den Tisch.

I'll cook, and you set the table.

Both halves keep verb-second order: koche is position 2 in the first clause, deckst is position 2 in the second. "Und" itself doesn't occupy a position.

Ich habe Hunger, aber ich habe keine Zeit.

I'm hungry, but I don't have time.

aber = but. Comma required before it. Subject (ich) still comes right after the verb in the second clause — totally normal word order.

Möchtest du Kaffee oder Tee?

Would you like coffee or tea?

oder = or. Joins two nouns here rather than two full clauses — also completely normal.

Er bleibt zu Hause, denn er ist krank.

He's staying home, because he's sick.

denn = because/for — sounds a little formal/literary. Notice: verb-second order still holds (ist is position 2), unlike the subordinating weil below, which means the exact same thing but sends the verb to the end.

Ich trinke keinen Kaffee, sondern Tee.

I don't drink coffee, but (rather) tea.

sondern only follows a negation (keinen Kaffee) and corrects it — "not X, but rather Y." Never use it after a positive statement; use "aber" there instead.

Subordinating conjunctions — verb to the end

Subordinating conjunctions — weil (because), dass (that), wenn (if/when), ob (whether) — send the conjugated verb of their own clause to the very end. A comma always goes before the conjunction. Compare each pair below to see the shift happen.

Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin.

I'm staying home because I'm sick.

weil = because. Compare to "denn" above: same meaning, opposite word order — here bin jumps to the very end of its clause.

Ich glaube, dass er Recht hat.

I think that he's right.

dass = that (never omitted in German, unlike English "I think he's right"). hat goes to the end.

Wenn es regnet, bleibe ich zu Hause.

If it rains, I stay home.

wenn = if/when. "Regnet" is pushed to the end of the wenn-clause. Since the whole subordinate clause now fills position 1 of the main clause, the main-clause verb "bleibe" comes immediately after the comma, then the subject "ich" — see Word Order.

Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt.

I don't know whether he's coming.

ob = whether/if (for yes/no questions turned into a clause — not the same "if" as "wenn"). Same verb-final pattern: kommt at the end.

Sie lernt Deutsch, obwohl es schwer ist.

She's learning German although it's hard.

obwohl = although. Same family as weil/dass/wenn/ob — verb to the end.

With a separable verb or a modal

The verb-final rule sends whatever is conjugated to the end — including a separable prefix (which simply isn't separated at all in this position) or a modal verb (which lands at the very end, after the infinitive it's paired with).

Ich stehe früh auf, weil ich zur Arbeit fahren muss.

I get up early because I have to drive to work.

Modal muss goes to the very end, after the infinitive fahren — the opposite order from a normal main clause ("Ich muss zur Arbeit fahren").

Er ruft mich an, wenn er ankommt.

He'll call me when he arrives.

ankommen stays together as one word at the end — it doesn't split into "kommt ... an" the way it would in a main clause.

Conjunctions in one line

Coordinating (ADUSO: aber, denn, und, sondern, oder) — word order unchanged, verb stays position 2 in both clauses.
Subordinating (weil, dass, wenn, ob, obwohl...) — conjugated verb jumps to the end of its clause. If that clause comes first, the main clause's verb follows immediately after the comma.

Related

• Word Order — the position-2 rule these conjunctions either respect or override
• Negation (nicht & kein) — sondern always follows a kein/nicht negation
• Questions — ob is the "yes/no question" turned into a clause