In German, we use coordinating conjunctions (words like “and,” but,” “or”) to connect words, phrases, and clauses. For example:
In this post, we’ll talk about when to use each of the most common German coordinating conjunctions, and how to use them in sentences. Ready to have a look?
What are coordinating conjunctions?
Coordinating conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses that are “equal” in a sentence. This means that they’ll be grammatically parallel — you can connect two nouns, two adjectives, two verb phrases, two independent clauses, etc., but you cannot mix and match.
Some examples from English…
- Two nouns:I saw a cat and a mouse
- Two adjectives:I saw a black and white cat.
- Two verb phrases:I saw a black cat and told my sister about it.
- Two independent clauses:I saw a black cat and my sister saw a mouse.
What are the most common coordinating conjunctions in German?
The most common conjunctions are und meaning and, oder meaning or, aber meaning but, doch meaning but, sondern meaning but rather, denn meaning because, and sowie meaning as well as. Let’s look more closely at each of them!
‘Und’ and ‘oder’
The coordinating conjunctions und meaning and and oder meaning or are the most basic German coordinating conjunctions. Just like with “and” and “or” in English:
Und connects two things that are both true:
Im Herbst regnet es sehr viel und es wird auch immer kälter.Translation: In the fall, it rains a lot and it gets colder and colder.Oder represents a choice: Though, oder expresses a choice between two or more possibilities. So, if you like making lists or providing choices, und and oder are your conjunctions.
Magst du den Sommer oder Winter besser?Translation: Do you like summer or winter better?
‘Aber’ and ‘doch’
The coordinating conjunctions aber and doch both mean “but.” They are used to connect two true ideas, in which the second somehow contradicts or limits the first. So, if you ever want to make a statement but qualify it in some way, aber or doch are your best bet.
- Hans wollte am Wochenende wandern gehen, aber das Wetter war schrecklich.Translation: Hans wanted to go hiking on the weekend, but the weather was terrible.
- Anna liebt Skifahren, doch es schneit leider nicht oft in Deutschland.Translation: Anna loves skiing, but unfortunately it does not snow often in Germany.
‘Sondern’
The conjunction sondern meaning but rather is used to correct a negative statement using a positive one.
Because with sondern allows you are correcting a negative statement, it will always follow a clause containing the words like nicht meaning not or kein meaning no; not.
‘Denn’
Are you always being asked why you are doing something? Then your answer should include the coordinating conjunction denn meaning because, which is used to provide a reason.
‘Sowie’
Are you a fan of lists? Then, the coordinating conjunction sowie meaning as well as is for you, because it is used to connect a series of items.
If you wondered if you can use und instead of sowie, the answer is yes. Both, und and sowie are equally acceptable to use in a list!
What are the word order rules for German coordinating conjunctions?
Here are some basic word order rules you’ll want to follow when using coordinating conjunctions in German sentences:
Clauses that start coordinating conjunctions can’t start a sentence, they must follow another clause.
A clause that follows a coordinating conjunction has the same word order that you’d expect in a main clause, with the verb in second position. When figuring out the word order, though, you should completely ignore the coordinating conjunction itself, so the first non-conjunction in the clause is in first position.
conjunctionfirst position (subject)second position (verb)Er fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, aber es war heute zu stürmisch.Translation: He always rides his bike, but it was too stormy today.The conjunction itself, though, can move around to various positions in the sentence. Here are some examples:
- first position (subject)second position (verb)conjunctionEr fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, es war aber heute zu stürmisch.Translation: He always rides his bike, but it was too stormy today.
- first position (subject)second position (verb)conjunctionEr fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, es war heute aber zu stürmisch.Translation: He always rides his bike, but today it was too stormy.
- first position (adverb)second position (verb)conjunctionEr fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, heute war es aber zu stürmisch.Translation: He always rides his bike, but today it was too stormy.Since a non-subject is in first position, the subject goes to third position.
- conjunctionfirst position (adverb)second position (verb)Klaus hatte keinen Schirm, aber glücklicherweise lieh ihm seine Kollegin einen.Translation: Klaus did not have an umbrella, but fortunately his colleague lent him one.Since a non-subject is in first position, and an object pronoun is in third position, the subject needs to be in fourth position.
You can read our article on word order in German sentences, if you want to read more about the standard word order in German!
Can you omit the subject after und?
Don’t believe the myth that Germans love long sentences. The truth is that if there is an opportunity to shorten a sentence, we will take it. Such an opportunity exists after the coordinating conjunction und meaning and.
When und is used to connect clauses that have the same subject, the subject can be omitted if it occupies the first position after und.
Fun fact: It is in fact considered better style to omit the subject after und.
Summary
Let’s review the most important information about coordinating conjunctions:
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join words, phrases, and clauses that are equal.
Comma requirements:
Comma optional: und meaning and, oder meaning or, and sowie meaning as well as
Comma required: aber meaning but, doch meaning but, denn meaning because, and sondern meaning but; but rather
Word order:
Coordinating conjunctions occupy the zero position in a sentence, so they do not affect word order.
If the two main clauses have the same subject, the subject in the second subject can be omitted if it is in the first position directly after und.
If you would like to apply what you have discovered today, check out our German coordinating conjunctions exercises. Happy learning!
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))