8 Subordinate clauses
8.1 A subordinate clause is one which requires another, main, clause to make it fully
meaningful. For example:
Ich habe mich geärgert, weil er so spät gekommen ist.
I was annoyed that he arrived so late.weil er so spät gekommen ist is the subordinate clause, which cannot stand on its own
without the preceding main clause ich habe mich geärgert.A subordinate clause is separated by a comma from the main clause. (See also 10 on
relative clauses.)8.2 The finite verb (see 5.1) in subordinate clauses, is almost always in final position (but
see 58.4), and main and subordinate clauses are linked by a subordinating conjunction
such as dass (‘that’):
Wir wussten nicht, dass er die Arbeit schon gemacht hatte.
We didn’t know that he had already done the work.The finite verb thus follows the past participle in a subordinate clause. See 33.1b (p. 59) and 35.3 (p. 76) on past participles. For the use of subordinate clauses in
functions giving reasons and purpose, see 79.1 (p. 274).8.3 Other common subordinating conjunctions include:
als ‘when’ (one occasion in the past) (see 8.7b, 48.6 and 51.2 for use of ‘als’ in
comparisons; see also 23.1c)
als ob ‘as if’
bevor ‘before’
bis ‘until’
da ‘since’, ‘because’
damit ‘so that’
nachdem ‘after’ (see also 34.6c and 34.8)
ob ‘whether’
obgleich/obwohl ‘although’
ohne dass/ohne... zu ‘without’
sobald ‘as soon as’ (see also 59.4)
so dass ‘so that as a result’
seit/seitdem ‘since’ (of time)
solange ‘as long as’ (see also 59.4)
um... zu ‘in order to’ (see also 8.7)
während ‘while’
weil ‘because’
*wenn ‘if’, ‘whenever’* Refers to more than one occasion and is not restricted to the past. ‘Wann’ is an
interrogative introducing a direct question or an indirect question (see also 7 , 9 ).8
Subordinate clauses