In the simplest German sentences, the word order looks a lot like English word order: subject (do-er), verb (action word), object (undergoer).
But even though one might initially think that German and English sentences look pretty much the same, German word order is actually quite different from English. As we add more to a sentence, you’ll start to notice these differences more.
Sounds a bit like Martian speech? Perhaps, but German word order isn’t chaotic at all. There are rules that will help you master any German clause with ease.
In this post we’ll take you through the basic German word order rules that will have you putting the building blocks of a sentence together like a native. Along the way, you’ll learn about different types of clauses, different kinds of verbs, and we’ll direct you to resources where you can learn more and practice your new skills. Ready to have a look? Time for liftoff!
Where to put the verb in German sentences?
In German, verbs can be placed in a variety of different locations in a sentence. To learn to position verbs correctly, you’ll need to learn the rules for the three basic clause types:
verb-second (V2) clauses
verb-final clauses
verb-initial clauses
Each type follows slightly different rules for verb placement. The good news is that if you learn when and how to form each type of clause, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the German word order rules, because the verbs provide the “framework” on which everything else is hung.
Let’s have a look at how to form and when to use each German clause type, then we’ll talk a bit about what you should do if a clause has more than one verb!
What is a V2 clause in German?
In a German V2 clause (or “verb-second clause”) the conjugated verb is always the second “element” in the clause. V2 clauses are usually used in the main clause of a statement or a content question.
But what is an “element”? When we’re talking about German word order, an “element” is a single word (e.g. warum) or a phrase that acts like a unit (e.g. der Astronaut). Here are some common types of “elements,” with some English examples:
an adverb or adverbial:
→ e.g. “tomorrow,” “pretty soon,” “every three weeks”
a noun or noun phrase:
→ e.g. “John,” “a house,” “this yellow house,” “Mrs. Murray’s house”
a prepositional phrase:
→ e.g. “tomorrow,” “pretty soon,” “every three weeks”
In German content questions, the question word will always be the first element, so the word order in German content questions will usually look pretty familiar. However, not all German statements will use a word order that’s as familiar as the sentence we saw above!
In German statements we often use an element other than the subject as the first element. Usually it’s done to emphasize some other element, like an object, an adverbial, a prepositional phrase, or even a modal particle. For example:
What is a verb-final clause in German?
In a German verb-final clause, the conjugated verb stands at the end. All German verb final clauses are dependent clauses — secondary clauses which complete or add information about the main situation being described by a sentence.
In German, we divide these into three main types, each of which you can learn more about from its own dedicated article:
Subordinate clauses complete or add information about the main clause as a whole:
verbEr kennt mich, weil ich diese Raumstation jedes Jahr besuche.Translation: He knows me because I visit this space station every year.Relative clauses → describe a noun:
verbDer Astronaut, der dieses Raumschiff fliegt, heißt Pirkheimer.Translation: The astronaut who is flying this spaceship is called Pirkheimer.Infinitive clauses → a type of subordinate clause built around an infinitive verb, with a subject:
verbIch plane, die Raumstation morgen zu besuchen.Translation: I plan to visit the space station tomorrow.Notice that, in these clauses, the infinitive verb is still at the end, even though it’s not technically conjugated.
What is a verb-initial clause in German?
Verb-initial clauses are called that because they start with the conjugated verb. In German, we use this type of clause for yes/no-questions and imperative clauses.
Yes/no-question:
verbsubjectFliegst du jedes Jahr zum Saturn?Translation: Do you fly to Saturn every year?Literally: Fly you to Saturn every year?Imperative clause:
verbFlieg mit mir zum Saturn!Translation: Fly to Saturn with me!
What to do if a clause has more than one verb?
While a German clause will only have one conjugated verb (that agrees with the subject etc.), there are several cases where you might also have more than one non-finite verb. This might be because you’re using a compound tense (e.g. “have gone”), a modal verb (e.g. “can clean”) or something similar.
In general, non-finite verbs will come at the end of the clause, regardless of the clause type. Let’s look at some examples:
V2 clause in the perfect tense:
conjugated verb (auxiliary)non-fininte verb (past participle)Ich bin gestern auf Erdumlaufbahn gegangen.Translation: I have gone into Earth’s orbit yesterday.V2 clause with modal verb and infinitive:
conjugated verb (auxiliary)non-fininte verb (past participle)Ich muss Treibstoff kaufen.Translation: I have to buy fuel.
In cases where there is more than one non-finite verb form, these verb forms are “stacked” at the end of the clause:
This principle, that non-finite verbs come at the end, applies universally to all clause types, including those that don’t use V2 word order, like questions and commands:
It even mostly applies in clauses with verb-final word order, though in this case the conjugated verb still needs to come after the non-finite verb(s).
Summary: Types of German clauses
Wow! That was a lot. Before we move on to talking about where to slot other elements into the German sentence frame, let’s look at a quick summary of the rules we’ve covered so far:
| Clause Type | Description | Use for... |
|---|---|---|
V2 / Verb-second Clause | the verb comes second | main clause (statements), |
Verb-final Clause | the verb goes at the end | dependent clauses |
Verb-initial Clause | the verb starts the clause | yes/no questions, |
In a clause that contains other non-finite verbs, like participles or infinitives, these will come at the end (though they still come before the conjugated verb in a verb-final clause.)
If you’ve understood those main rules, you’re ready to move on to talking about where to put other elements like subjects, verbs, and descriptive words and phrases! Let’s have a closer look.
How to form a noun phrase in German?
In German, a noun phrase is composed of a noun and the words that modify it. The elements of a noun phrase go in this order:
article
adjective(s)
noun
genitive attribute
noun phrase in the genitive case
The grammatical case of the noun will determine the grammatical case of all the other elements of a noun phrase except the genitive attribute. Remember, though, that the only required element is the noun — the article, adjective(s), and genitive attribute will not always be needed.
Additionally, a noun phrase can always be replaced by a pronoun, so pronouns can go in all the same positions noun phrases can!
How to form a prepositional phrase in German?
In German, a prepositional phrase is composed of two parts: a preposition and a noun phrase. We call the noun phrase that follows a preposition the object of the preposition.
preposition
noun phrase
object of the preposition
Where to put the subject, direct object, and indirect object in German sentences?
When figuring out the position of a German In a totally neutral German sentence, the subject will come before the object, regardless of where the verb falls:
In sentences that have two objects, a direct object and an indirect object, then the subject comes before both objects, but you’ll also need to follow these rules:
If the direct object is a noun phrase, it comes after the indirect object:
subjectindirect objectdirect objectIch gebe der Pilotin eine Sternkarte.Translation: I give the pilot a star chart.Ich gebe ihr eine Sternkarte.Translation: I give her a star chart.If the direct object is a pronoun, then it comes before the indirect object.
subjectdirect objectindirect objectIch gebe direct object der Pilotin.Translation: I give it to the pilot.Ich gebe sie ihr.Translation: I give it to the pilot.However, as we saw above, any non-verbal element of a V2 clause can be relocated to act as the “first element” for emphasis. This means that sometimes a V2 clause will begin with the direct or indirect object. In these cases, the subject will still precede any remaining objects.
direct objectverbsubjectDiese Raumstation besuche ich jedes Jahr.Translation: I visit this space station every year.Literally: This space station visit I every year.
Where to put adverbs in German sentences?
In German, the position of adverbsis somewhat flexible, but there are some positions that sound more natural than others, and that position will depend on a number of factors. Here’s a very quick summary to get you started:
Adverbs and adverbials are words or phrases that describe non-nouns and often provide information about when, why, how, or where something happened.
Adverbs and adverbials of time (when), reason (why), and manner (how) sound most natural when they fall between the indirect object and the direct object.
Adverbs and adverbials of place (where) sound most natural after both objects.
For example:
If an adverb or adverbial instead modifies another adverb or an adjective, it will come right before the word it modifies:
If you want to read all the details about the placement of German adverbs and adverbials, check out our post on the position of adverbs in German!
Where to put ‘nicht’ in a German sentence?
In German, nicht meaning not is the most common word that is used to make a negative sentence. Here are the most important rules to remember about placing it correctly:
If negating a noun or prepositional phrase (e.g. I bought the spaceship, not the airplane), nicht goes before the phrase it modifies
Die Pilotin ist gestern nicht zur Venus geflogen, sondern zum Mars.Translation: Yesterday, the pilot flew not to Venus, but to Mars.If negating an entire clause (e.g. I did not go to the zoo), nicht goes broadly at the end, though it is usually still followed by non-finite verbs and separable prefixes.
For a lot more examples and more detailed explanations of these rules, check out our post on German negation!
Summary
Here are the main rules to remember from this article:
Four main rules govern the placement of verbs:
In main clauses and content questions → the finite verb is the second element (V2)
In dependent clauses → the finite verb is at the end
In yes-no questions or commands → the finite verb comes first
Non-finite verbs like participles or infinitives come at the end of the clause
Noun phrases use this word order → article + adjective(s) + noun + genitive attribute
Prepositional phrases use this word order → preposition + noun phrase
Generally, the order of subjects and objects is → subject + indirect object + direct object...
…but if the direct object is a pronoun, use → subject + direct object + indirect object.
In this post we also gave you a quick introduction to the placement of adverbs and negation, but you might want to check out some of our other posts to learn the full rules.
Ready to practice? Check out these German word order exercises to test your skills! Happy learning!
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