Verbs in subordinate clauses
Dependent on a main clause
A subordinate clause has to be linked to a main clause as it cannot stand
on its own:Er fährt nach Frankfurt, weil er einen alten Freund besuchen möchte.
He is travelling to Frankfurt because he wants to visit an old friend.In the above example the subordinate clause (... , weil er einen alten
Freund besuchen möchte) shows its dependent character as it would not
make sense without the preceding main clause (Er fährt nach Frankfurt,
...).Different types of subordinate clauses
A subordinate clause is usually introduced by a subordinate conjunction
such as dass‘that’,weil‘because’ etc. Two other types of subordinate
clauses are:- indirect questionswhich are introduced by ob‘whether’ or question
words such as wer‘who’,warum‘why’ etc. - relative clauseswhich are introduced by relative pronouns such as der
‘who’,deren‘whose’ etc.
Finite verb – final position
In all types of subordinate clauses, the finite verb moves to the end of
the clause. Note that the main and the subordinate clause are always
separated by a comma:Main clause Subordinate clause Finite verb
Ich denke, dass er aus Berlin kommt.
Das ist der Mann, der einen Volvo fährt.
Ich weiß nicht, warum sie schlechte Laune hat.More than one verb in a subordinate clause
In subordinate clauses with two verbs, the second verb appears before the
finite verb:Sie hofft, dass sie das Abschlussexamen bestehen wird.
She hopes that she will pass the final exam.Unit 19: Word order and sentence structure 143