- ob‘whether’ – introduces an indirect question:
Wissen Sie schon, ob Sie zum nächsten Meeting kommen können?
Do you know yet whether you will be able to come to the
next meeting?
For more information on indirect questions, see Unit 17.
- obwohl‘although’ – expressing a contrast:
Er hat sich ein Auto gekauft, obwohl er kein Geld hat.
He bought a new car, although he doesn’t have any money.
- weil,‘because’ – indicating a reason:
Sie ist sehr glücklich, weil sie verliebt ist.
She is very happy because she is in love.
The conjunctions weilanddennare usually interchangeable in meaning,
but as dennis a coordinating conjunction the word order of the clause
that follows is not affected.
- wenn‘when’, ‘whenever’ – referring to actions or events in the present
and future and describing repeated actions in the past:
Wenn ich koche, höre ich immer Radio.
When/whenever I cook, I listen to the radio.
Wenn er ins Kino ging, aß er immer Popcorn.
When/whenever he went to the cinema he always ate popcorn.
- wenn‘if ’ – expressing conditions:
Wenn ich mehr Geld hätte, würde ich ein neues Auto kaufen.
If I had more money, I would buy a new car.
Word order in subordinate clauses
As mentioned earlier, subordinating conjunctions introduce a subordinate
clause and send the finite verb to the end.
If a sentence starts with a subordinate clause, the finite verb moves to
the end of the clause and appears next to the finite verb of the main
clause:
Als ich ein Kind war,spielteich gern mit Autos.
Seitdem er ins Fitnessstudio geht, siehter müde aus.
Note the comma between the verbs.
Unit 18: Conjunctions and clauses 137
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