Intermediate German: A Grammar and Workbook

UNIT EIGHTEEN

Unit 18 Conjunctions and clauses

Conjunctions link clauses

Conjunctions such as und‘and’,aber‘but’,weil‘because’ and während

‘while’, usually link clauses together. Here are a few examples:

Clause 1 Conjunction Clause 2

Das ist Peter und er ist 30 Jahre alt.

Maria kommt aus Bonn, aber sie lebt jetzt in Frankfurt.

Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich müde bin.

Er kocht etwas, während sie schläft.

Two groups of conjunctions in German

Conjunctions in German can be divided into two main groups:

• Coordinating conjunctionssuch as und‘and’,aber‘but’ and oder‘or’
  usually connect two main clauses. A main clause is a clause that can
  stand on its own:
  Das ist Peter. Er ist 30 Jahre alt.
  →Das ist Peter under ist 30 Jahre alt.
  A coordinating conjunction does not affect the word order in the clause
  that follows – the finite verb remains the second element.


• Subordinating conjunctions such as weil ‘because’,während‘while’,
  dass‘that’ normally link subordinate clauses and main clauses. A
  subordinate clause cannot stand on its own as it is dependent on a main
  clause.

111

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

2

13

4111

5

6

7

8

9

2011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

3011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

4011

1

2

3

41111