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Archive for 'Grammar'

German word order: Subordinate Clauses, part 2 Posted by on Sep 24, 2012

In my last post I explained how to form subordinate clauses with only one verb. Now, let’s go one step further and have a look at subordinate clauses that contain two verbs. When a sentence contains two verbs, one of them is always a full verb and the other is either an auxiliary verb or…

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German word order: Subordinate Clauses, part 1 Posted by on Sep 23, 2012

German word order can be a pain in the neck. This time, I am dealing with subordinate clauses and I hope that I can bring some light into the darkness. A subordinate clause cannot stand on its own but has to be linked to a main clause: “Sabine trinkt ein Glas Wasser, weil sie Durst…

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German word order: Main clauses, part 2 Posted by on Sep 22, 2012

In my last post, I explained how to form main clauses with only one verb and with the correct word order in mind. Today, I would to continue with this topic and address myself to sentences that contain two or three verbs. When a sentence contains only one verb, then this verb is usually a…

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German word order: Main clauses, part 1 Posted by on Sep 20, 2012

Unlike English, German word order is not that consistent. The position of the verb depends on the sentence type. In main clauses, the verb comes after the subject. In subordinate clause, the verb comes at the end of the sentence, and in questions and imperatives, the verb comes in the first position. Here are some…

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Talking about vacation in German, part 2 Posted by on Jul 19, 2012

In my yesterday’s post I already discussed how to talk about vacation or vacation plans. Now, I’d like to continue with this topic. Further expressions around the topic “vacation” are:   1. Urlaub machen – to take a vacation So, when you would like to know when someone is about to take a vacation you…

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Asking about vacation plans in German Posted by on Jul 18, 2012

It’s vacation time in German and I guess most Germans would like to abscond from the country because the weather is really, really bad these days. It’s raining day after day. There already were sunny and very warm days in June but in the last past weeks it has only been raining. So if you…

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German adjectives, part 2 – The weak declension Posted by on Jun 22, 2012

In my last post I began to talk about forming simple sentences with adjectives in German. You learned that there is no need to decline adjectives in so-called “to be” sentences or, in other words, when you put the adjective after the noun. Unfortunately, things are getting more complicated when you want to put the…

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