Starting the sentence with an object
In order to shift the emphasis in a sentence, the direct or indirect object
can become the first element:Wir schicken die Rechnungnächste Woche.
→ Die Rechnungschicken wir nächste Woche.Expressions of time, manner, place
The time–manner–place rule
Expressions describing when,howorwheresomething happens usually
appear in the following sequence: time–manner–place.Subject Finite Time Manner Place Final
verb verb
Susi fährt später mit dem Auto nach Hause.
Tom hat heute allein im Labor gearbeitet.Acting as the first element
It is possible for any one of these expressions to form the first element
in a sentence. The other elements usually remain in the same positions:Heute hat Tom allein im Labor gearbeitet.
Im Labor hat Tom heute allein gearbeitet.
Allein hat Tom heute im Labor gearbeitet.Note that in German there is no commabetween the first element and
the rest of the sentence.Exercise 19.1
Link the two sentences by using the conjunction in brackets. Don’t forget
to change the word order accordingly.Example: Er will Deutsch lernen. Er hat jemanden aus Leipzig
kennen gelernt. (weil)
→Er will Deutsch lernen, weiler jemanden aus Leipzig
kennen gelernt hat.Unit 19: Word order and sentence structure 147