Rudi fiel auf den Boden, und Peter lachte laut.
Rudi fell on the floor and Peter laughed loudly.6.2 If the subjects of such clauses are the same, the second subject may be omitted:
Wir spielten jeden Tag Fußball oder (wir) gingen spazieren.
We played football or went for a walk every day.6.3 If the second clause has another element in first position, the subject must be included:
Ich wusch mich, dann ging ich in die Küche.
I had a wash, then I went into the kitchen.As this example shows, the ‘finite verb second’ rule also applies following the
conjunction dann, which is not to be confused with the co-ordinating conjunction
denn (see 6.1). See 59.5 (p. 153) for the use of commas in German clauses and 8.3 for conjunctions in
subordinate clauses.7 Direct questions and commands
For indirect questions, see^9 (p. 14).
7.1 After interrogative words, such as wer, was, wie, warum, wo, wann, womit, wovon,
etc., the verb retains second position:
Wo sind meine Schuhe?
Where are my shoes?Warum hat er es dir denn nicht gesagt?
Why didn’t he tell you then?Worüber ärgert er sich so?
What’s he so annoyed about? (See also 50.5.)For identifying and seeking information, see^73 (pp. 227–31).
7.2 With all other direct questions, however, the finite verb is the first element in the
sentence:
Ist er immer noch nicht angekommen?
Has he still not arrived?7.3 In direct commands and suggestions/exhortations the finite verb is again always first
element:
Gehen Sie sofort nach Hause!
Go home at once!Zieh doch den Mantel aus!
Take your coat off.Vergessen wir das!
Let’s just forget about it. See^41 (p. 105) for imperatives; for making, accepting and declining suggestions using this
pattern, see 98 (p. 356).7
WORD ORDER